Mr. Pat Lardner:

While Mr. Coleman has given a very comprehensive answer, I would like to add a couple of points. There are elements of the capital markets that will be potentially more greatly impacted, such as infrastructural projects. There are a lot of open debates around that issue, which again are political, so I will not offer an opinion at this stage on that issue.

Following on from the recent visit here by representatives of the European Investment Bank we know one of the by-products of some of the changes that will occur. They spoke about the way in which they deploy capital to projects. The European Investment Bank has invested approximately €395 million in Irish projects. If one of its shareholders has up until this point been the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom will no longer be a recipient of those projects, or at least a primary recipient, it opens up greater opportunities. Hence our focus on investing in the real economy.

On the review of the capital markets union project, we would have been a very significant contributor to the original consultations on capital markets union, primarily on removal of barriers to cross-border distribution of funds, first to get capital into economies, second to provide choice to investors and third because it is in the interests of our industry as well. Because of the occurrence of and the process around Brexit there are aspects of the CMU project that will take a lower priority. Following on from a conversation we had with the Commission two weeks ago, it is interesting to note that it will continue to try to have barriers to cross-border distributions removed. Linking that to the point made by Mr. Coleman, there are already areas where industry, and Ireland as a place where there is a reasonably significant financial services footprint, has the ability to impact, and constructively so, the direction of travel.