John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My final question is completely unrelated. We have talked about a hard Brexit and a crash-out Brexit. The IFAC has advised, as have others who appeared before the committee, that the Government's approach to Brexit was predicated on a benign outcome and it is only in the recent past that the emphasis has changed. There will be a Brexit of one shape or form. Do we have a sense of the impact of even a reasonable Brexit? I know there have been attempts to quantify the impact of Brexit with a deal.

Mr. Coffey will be unable to answer my ancillary question but it would be worthwhile for him to consider it. Many tentative solutions have been suggested as to how this problem may be solved. One suggestion is to have a Northern Ireland only backstop. Under this hypothetical scenario, an economic zone would be established, as originally anticipated in the withdrawal agreement, and the North would be able to take advantage of the best the EU has to offer while remaining part of the UK.

What impact, if any, would Northern Ireland being a special economic zone have on the economy of the Republic?