Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation. I am sorry that other people are detained in other committees and that there are not more here.

On the opportunities that will present themselves as we move closer to Brexit, has the Bar Council now got what may be termed a "marketing suite" in order to market its services to potential clients? I recently attended a conference where the preparedness of the financial services industry in the UK was discussed and how it is ready to relocate part of its business to European capitals and other cities, to Dublin, to Frankfurt or wherever. We then finish up with two separate legal systems, which is probably going to create enormous work for barristers and solicitors on all sides. Is that a problem that the witnesses see coming down the line as well as an opportunity? I wonder if they have any statistics on how many companies have sought advice about locating in Ireland and moving their operations here to avail of opportunities that they currently have in the European Union.

Are the witnesses in discussion with the UK's Bar Council about sharing the spoils of whatever is going to come out of this? As far as I know, and I might be wrong, we do not operate a chambers system like in the UK. Is there any opportunity for a group of barristers to come together and form such an operation where they will be able to offer a one-stop shop of expertise for companies coming here? If one is dealing with a chambers organisation in the UK, there would be a variety of expertise in the chambers, whereas here one has to go and find sole traders who are experts in specific areas. How much of a problem do the witnesses see languages as being for members of the Bar Council?

Finally, speaking about civic rights and justices, we have a number of UK citizens living in Ireland. We have a number of Irish citizens living in the UK. It is well-established that there is going to be a problem if we land ourselves in a hard Brexit scenario. I said this morning and will say again that I do not see a hard or a soft Brexit, I see a totally disorganised Brexit where bits and pieces will come together. In this country, we have 100,000 people living in the North of Ireland who are UK citizens and are not entitled under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to carry Irish citizenship, whereas their children are. These would mainly be expatriates who came into the medical profession, academia or the restaurant business in the North of Ireland. There are 100,000 of them. I have raised their unique situation with everybody that has come in so far. It is a problem and I have no doubt that it is a problem that will ultimately finish at the desk of the witnesses or their colleagues somewhere along the line to try to establish those people's rights. Have any approaches been made in that area to members of the Bar of Ireland?

I apologise if the questions are too specific, but those are the matters of interest to me.