Dr. Adele Bergin:

The Deputy asked about the long-term impact on jobs and why the figures were different from our previous study. The last study we did was right after the UK referendum and, since then, there has been a huge amount of research on Brexit and we have drawn on that. We now have a better understanding of the way Brexit will impact the economy.

The Deputy also asked about FDI. Most of the work done on Brexit has been done in the UK and there is consensus in research circles in the UK that, as a result of Brexit, it will lose around one quarter of its FDI over the long term. In this paper we have tried to find out in what sectors the UK would be likely to lose investment. Ireland is already a very attractive destination for FDI, so if the UK experiences losses, it is a plausible assumption that Ireland will get some of it on the basis of its current share of FDI within the EU. The UK is expected to lose in the areas of computers, electronics, optical products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and these are some of the sectors in which we think Ireland could gain, along with the financial intermediation sector. The Deputy asked if there was any evidence of this so far. I am not aware of any but there have been reports that people have made applications in this regard, especially in the financial sector.