Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In deference to the Chairman's wishes and the time constraints, I will ask specific questions. The first is to Mr. Fitzgerald. He spoke about below-cost selling. Does this dislocate jobs in bars and pubs throughout the country? Does it cost the State enormous money in the areas of health and justice, in this sense disadvantaging the country facing into Brexit?

It was stated that €13 billion was paid in insurance claims. Is it not the case that insurance costs are rocketing and that this is disadvantaging firms more than Brexit? The public liability premium on a small licensed premises in my village has increased from €1,800 to €3,300 this year. There is a similar issue with car insurance. In deference to the Chairman, I will not elaborate but the witnesses get my point. It is a huge issue, which is worse than Brexit in some respects.

The representative from IBEC spoke about targeted help. What does he mean specifically? What could realistically be done which would be sensible and useful and which we, as politicians, could advocate?

Are the organisations before the committee already lobbying independently of the Government in Europe and, if so, how? I ask the witnesses to tell us about specific tariffs that might be introduced in the context of the amounts that would be charged, how these tariffs would work, how they would inhibit trade and the type of firms that they might be likely to put out of business.