Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. IBEC is a very dynamic organisation, and many former members and employees are playing a very important role in European affairs at the moment. It is a great training ground for people.

This document, Ireland in the EU: A Dynamic Future - The Priorities of Irish Business for the Future of Europe, is very well presented. It is very easy to read and is a great document for people who are involved in negotiations, including the Government. It serves as a handbook of the facts and outlines the benefits of Ireland's membership of the European Union for the past 45 years.

There is no point in further regretting what is happening with the UK, but I am confident that there will be an agreement at the end of the day that will benefit North and South. It is absolutely in our interests, as we all know, and there is a great deal of goodwill towards us from the other 26 member states of the European Union. This committee, through our Chairman and our secretariat, have a very active role in relation to the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union, COSAC. We are meeting Georgians later today, and our Chairman is meeting another ambassador as well. We have very close relations and friendships with them and regularly have negotiations and discussions. Our committee has just returned from a meeting in London. We attended from Sunday until last night. We met Members of the UK Parliament and Members of the House of Lords. That is the kind of work that is being done here regularly. In politics, relations are vital, and direct one-to-one contact, not just phone contact, is essential.

I am interested in the finding that 90% of IBEC members believe that future membership of the European Union will be important for their businesses. That is a fact. Some 65% of others also feel that way. A very high percentage of people in business realise the benefit of access to that market of 475 million people once the UK leaves.

The only other problem that arises is the potential for a trade war. That has been averted so far.

As the witnesses know, negotiations between the United States of America and China are under way and they will have serious repercussions for those regions. This may, in turn, have a knock-on effect. A trade war would be damaging to the whole world. It is a case of back to the future. The United States of America has a very open economy and it has been a most successful economy. Perhaps it has not kept up pace in certain respects - for example, the changes in the field of competition. Nevertheless, IBEC is probably monitoring this situation and international news relating to it very carefully. The first concern was that there could be a tariffs on alcohol - bourbon and other American drinks - and that this would have repercussions for the Irish drinks industry. That would be a most regrettable situation, so everything that can be done to avert it must be done.

It is very important IBEC has an office in Brussels and links all over Ireland and into Brussels, the most important place. IBEC could mount a most successful seminar, meeting all the key players. The witnesses should have no doubt about the impact such events have on the decision makers. Irrespective of meetings with the Government, Ministers, Deputies, Senators and so on, having a non-governmental agency such as IBEC there representing industry is vital.

I say "Well done" to Dr. Ivory on his presentation. There is an ongoing discussion regarding the issues raised. IBEC has published this document already, but the presenting of it today - and the witnesses' presence has been recorded all over the House - is a very good step in the right direction. I thank the witnesses for attending. I have no real questions because all the answers are in this document in a very comprehensive way. I welcome the witnesses and urge them to continue their excellent work on behalf of the State.