Mr. Máirtín Ó Muilleoir:

I am a big fan of and an advocate for InterTradeIreland. I visited its Newry headquarters and its representatives showed me the courtesy of bringing me to some businesses which had benefited from the work they do with small and medium enterprises, not only in the Border region but further afield. I would like to see the realisation of their vision for an all-island economy. They have a great saying, namely, that the Border is on the periphery of two economies but in an all-island economy it is at the centre.

Unfortunately, InterTradeIreland does not fall under the remit of my Department. It is the responsibility of the Minister for the Economy. In terms of its approach the Irish Government has agreed that it would like there to be no more cuts to InterTradeIreland's budget. That is a position with which I am very sympathetic. The decision on funding for InterTradeIreland will be a matter for the Minister for the Economy and the ball is in his court. We need to reach a resolution of these matters and I am confident we will be able to do so. All the all-island bodies start their financial year on 1 January. In the interim, if there is any support I can give InterTradeIreland to fulfil its obligations, duties and tasks, I will be pleased to do that. I am very pleased that one of the first packages of funding under INTERREG, and the Deputy knows we had some hiccups in securing that money, went to InterTradeIreland. It is around €12 million or €13 million but I could be corrected on that. That has meant that it has been able to work with those companies in the Border region in particular which have grave worries about the future of Brexit. The Deputy can take it from me that I will go back and ask again where we are at with InterTradeIreland, and if I can help in any way to showcase its work or be an advocate for it, I will certainly will do that.