Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses from Teagasc for their presence here. I apologise that I had to step out for a minute at the start. We are crystal ball gazing for everything in terms of how things will develop. It is very hard to get any definitive answers. In the paper from April, Teagasc modelled four separate scenarios. A worst case scenario was a cost of €800 million a year for the agri-food industry and the best case scenario was €150 million. Has Teagasc revisited those models recently? Has there been any significant change in the predictions based on the currency fluctuations and what is happening in the UK with Brexit and how it will develop? Will Dr. Hanrahan elaborate on what the best case scenario of €150 million actually means?

One of the key things if there are significant impacts on agri-food exports to the UK is to develop new markets. That sounds as if it will not be simple. It will not happen quickly or easily. Does Teagasc advise agri-food businesses to start working now on developing alternative markets? We had witnesses from the mushroom industry here a while back talking about how 90% of the industry's production goes to the UK market. How feasible is it for them to develop other mainland EU markets, for example France, which is the next closest? Is it feasible and is it something businesses should be looking at now? It probably makes sense to have a more diverse market rather than being in the situation of some sole suppliers. Some multiples ask people to be sole suppliers to them and then shut them down once they get them into that position. Everything else is guess work at this stage. Will Dr. Hanrahan expand on those two points?