Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Cotter for his presentation. I thought it was one of the best assessments of the state of play. He clearly outlined the work of Bord Bia and the assistance it is giving the sector in dealing with the challenges, and I commend it for that.

I would like to have elaboration and clarification on a number of points. Page 5 of the presentation states that a significant number of the companies among the 200 Bord Bia client companies were not prepared for the devaluation of sterling. Teagasc came before the committee recently. It put together a very comprehensive report earlier this year in anticipation of a potential Brexit vote. There seems to be some failure to prepare or some gap, considering economic modelling was done which looked at different scenarios, but the sector was not prepared and did not factor in that this could happen. I want to get some sense of that issue.

On page 3 the presentation referred to the issue of trade agreements and stated that Brexit will have a major bearing on trade. I agree. If we listen to the language from some of the Brexiteers in the Tory party, they are very fervent that Britain needs to pull out of the Single Market and engage the world in its own right, which means trade agreements. This would obviously pose a threat.

I agree with the analysis on page 3. Where does that leave the Government's strategy in terms of supporting CETA, TTIP and other trade agreements? Mr. Cotter is acknowledging the serious threat to our sector from Britain engaging in trade agreement with major blocs that will displace our industry, but our Government is supporting trade agreements at European level. I would like to hear Mr. Cotter's view on that.

Page 3 of the report outlined concisely and clearly the real challenge from an all-Ireland perspective. In terms of the numbers, €525 million is exported to the North and €428 million is exported elsewhere. We are very dependent on each other, some sectors more so than others. What work is Bord Bia doing on an all-Ireland basis? What is happening from the Northern end? Are the relevant bodies and the Executive in contact with Bord Bia? Is the relevant Department in the North in contact with Bord Bia? Are they working in partnership to address these issues?