Mr. Billy Kelleher:

I thank the members for their kind words and I wish them well. We are at two ends of political cycles. We are at the start of our cycle and the members of the committee are coming to the end of their cycle, so I can understand that the focus will change dramatically in the coming weeks in the Oireachtas. From the perspective of the matters raised by Senator Coghlan, what was interesting in recent days was the exceptional and intense briefing by the UK, both semi-official and unofficial, around the European Parliament. They were saying Ireland will be under huge pressure and Ireland would be exceptionally vulnerable in the event of a crash-out Brexit. They were doing a lot of briefings like that quite intensively. They were also trying to divide the European members, especially those that are affiliated to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, by pointing out that the UK is a NATO member, that the UK would defend European interests, and that Ireland is a neutral country and it would not defend European interests. That was more or less targeting the eastern countries that have major concerns about threats from further to the east of the European Union. There has been an intensive lobbying in recent days to drive a wedge between the varying views and groupings in Europe.

Overall, I can safely say that there is significant solidarity among all political groupings and countries for Ireland's predicament with Brexit and what could flow from it. The Supreme Court decision will bring about its own internal issues in the UK. From our perspective, there is a simple view that we must do everything to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. It would undermine all that we have achieved on the island. It certainly is not in keeping with the spirit and possibly even the law of the Good Friday Agreement relating to the all-Ireland economy, North-South co-operation, and normalising life on the island. There has been strong support and solidarity from all political groupings and countries for Ireland's position and our vulnerabilities to a Brexit with no deal or a bad deal. We have been gazing into the crystal ball for some time about this issue, guessing what will happen, but we know for sure that there is a political crisis in the UK, and many of the decisions that will have an impact will be made in Westminster or by the Executive itself. As long as the UK sticks to its original commitments to the Good Friday Agreement and has that as its base point, I expect that the UK is honour and duty-bound to do nothing and should do nothing to install a hard border, either by design or by accident, on the island itself.

The Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, has been mentioned. We can all say nice things. I get the sense that the CAP budget will be under a lot of pressure in the next years. While the previous agricultural committee in the outgoing Parliament made its recommendations, there is no doubt that CAP recommendations will be revisited by the new agricultural committee. It may not open it up to full discussions and amendments from outside the committee itself, but it will certainly have a view on it, as will Parliament, along with the new Commissioner, who will most likely be the Polish candidate, Janusz Wojciechowski. He will be a Commissioner for the European Union but there is a lot of pressure from the east to talk about parity of payments in any CAP reform. There will be pressure there, but our duty as elected representatives is to defend Ireland's interest in those negotiations.

Ms Frances Fitzgerald and I sit on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, ECON. Significant issues there include access to credit for small and medium-sized businesses, capital markets, and how we fund small and medium-sized businesses in the years ahead. The committee probably knows more than anybody else that the Irish banking system is not functioning as we would like it to. It seems to be incapable of assessing business loans and unsure of whether banks should be interested in lending and in supporting small and medium-sized businesses. The latest figures indicate that it is not lending to the broader economy and that it is not acting as a stimulus to support small and medium-sized businesses. That is having a profound effect on the capacity of businesses. If we have a shock Brexit with short-term cashflow problems for many small and medium-sized businesses, the Irish banks have to step up to the plate and significantly improve on what they are currently doing, where they do not lend into the broader economy. That is an issue which Oireachtas committees and Members should pursue in the short and medium term to address the immediate issues of Brexit, a potential crash-out and cashflow crisis and, in the longer term, the sustainability of the economy and underpinning that with proper credit.

Deputy Crowe asked about one of the portfolios of a Commissioner-elect, namely, protecting the European way of life. We should really talk about protecting life in Europe and across the planet. Our priorities in every aspect of policy will be first benchmarked with regard to environmental impact. That is my reading of the political dynamics now at play in Europe and across national governments, with an increase in people participating both civically and electorally, who are pushing the climate change agenda. It is now very much in the mainstream here. That will have implications for agriculture, transport and how we construct in Ireland. We should be at the forefront of it. There is a question of how we fund all these things in the Irish context when our banking system is not sound enough to lend into the broader economy to stimulate investment in the green agenda and green economy.

Those are thoughts and opinions. Brexit is the short and medium-term issue here that we are concentrating on. The Commission hearings will happen and there will obviously be varying views from political groupings and individuals, and one or two may not make it into the final selection process. My view on Commissioner Hogan is that he will be a great asset to the European Union. Facing potential trade negotiations with the UK in the context of Brexit, I welcome that we have Mr. Hogan as trade Commissioner because he will bring a perspective and understanding of the all-Ireland economy and what is required to ensure that we have as little disruption as possible between the Republic and the North, and the island and Britain.