Mr. P.J. O'Hanlon:

I thank the Acting Chairman.

Before I make my final comments, the Acting Chairman asked Senator Michelle Mulherin a question about smuggling and its impact. Until 12 months ago, Monaghan County Council had spent in the region of €4 million to €5 million on cleaning up over a number of years as a result of diesel washing and laundering. Fortunately, we have moved on. If the Acting Chairman is asking a direct question about going back to a hard border, there is absolutely no doubt that it would be fodder for the racketeers and the criminals who lived and flourished along the Border. That is the last thing we want to see happen. In our communities we are very proud of where we come from and have done a lot of hard work, on all sides, to stamp out this practice. I hate to ask, if it were to happen again, where the money would end up and to whom it would go. We do not want to go back. To give a direct answer to a direct question: would smuggling take off again? Let there be no doubt about it that once there is a hard border, one can be assured that there will be that business and practice because, unfortunately, there are people who are interested in making money and who will do anything to make it.

As a final comment, I thank the Acting Chairman for giving us the time and opportunity to speak. We are from and represent all sections of the community. That is our sole purpose: to represent the communities who live along the Border. All we want the committee to do is to make the case for us. If there is a hard Brexit, the people who will be impacted on negatively are those of us who live on both sides of the Border. Given what we have gone through in recent years, we deserve a break. We need help and today we are asking for the committee's. I again thank it for its time.