Dr. Orlaigh Quinn:

I will begin with the macro issues, including Brexit. Looking at global trade, issues such as tax and the United States have huge implications on the Irish economy. We touched on skills, which is a major feature. That is something to which my colleagues might wish to add. However, we must separate out what we can and cannot control. We are takers of policy in certain areas. For example, if there is a trade war between the EU and the US, we would be part of the EU discussion but our influence would be reduced than would be the case if the matter relate to a skills policy in respect of which we have a direct control and we could ensure that we invested in particular areas. We tend to distinguish between the areas that we can absolutely control ourselves and matters in respect of which we are not policy takers but, rather, contributors to discussions. The potential trade war is a big factor but we have also had huge investment from global trade. New free trade agreements are coming through such as Mercosur, and those with Singapore and Japan. Those will provide us with great opportunities.

Asia provides us with great potential. I met 11 ambassadors from the region in Vietnam last month. We sat down with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland and had two days of planning for the Asia region and how to strengthen our presence there. Some of it is described in the business footprint plan but much of it is about how we work well together. When one travels in Asia, whether it is with Ministers or Deputies, doors open more easily, which is not the case in the United States. We need different strategies for different regions. We have an Asia strategy which we developed with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and which relates to growing Asia as a market.

Last year 300 companies went from Ireland to Singapore and Japan and many good contracts were established. It was very positive. An example I often give relates to our visit to the highest tower in Singapore. The guy who was showing us the tower said the building is Singapore and the brains are Irish because all the electronics put into the tower came from Irish companies. Sometimes we do not celebrate or know enough about the success of Irish companies abroad. They are doing amazing work. For us, it is about supporting them and giving them access. Particularly in Asia, the trade missions work very strongly. It is a question of supporting those concerned with the required skills sets and, as I mentioned, customs information and training. It is a long game in Asia; it takes years to establish a presence and to get involved with companies. That is what Enterprise Ireland is particularly excellent at doing. That is what we work at.

I touched on the global challenges. Do colleagues want to contribute on any of those?