Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. Mr. Callinan, I could speak about the customs union all day but we have covered it relatively well. I happen to be a chartered accountant and we have received a large amount of material from Chartered Accountants Ireland, which I am sure you have seen, about the impact on small businesses. Many of them are not conscious of all that is involved. I do not wish to labour that point although I believe it is valid. We might invite them to appear before the committee on another occasion. Consider the issue of food control. The UK has typically had a cheap food policy. It is not as interested in the agriculture sector as in the end consumer. There is the possibility of a great deal of cheap, not as well regulated product coming into the UK once it is not subject to EU rules. If that food were to get into the UK food chain, how difficult or easy would it be to control it from getting across the landbridge between Scotland and Belfast or Liverpool and Belfast and ending up in the food chain here? For example, it could be South American beef or chicken from various other places that would not be subject to the same food controls. Has there been any thought about what we will do in that regard? We have a very long Border and we do not wish to have a hard Border, but how can we mitigate against that? We cannot control the UK's borders if it adopts a different policy and we are the most vulnerable to leakage.