Mr. Fergal O'Brien:

I will start with engagement and the all-island issue, which is incredibly important, particularly the implementation of the protocol and the shared island initiative, which we know is such a priority for Government. IBEC has had a joint business council with its counterpart in Northern Ireland, the CBI, officially since the 1990s, and indeed has engaged with it for much longer. That engagement will never be as important as it will be in the next chapter. Businesses in the North are meeting with businesses with IBEC membership on an ongoing basis, and we are thrashing out some of the challenges to the all-island economy with Government. We are also engaging with our counterpart in London, the CBI, with manufacturers in the UK and a range of trade associations. What we find is that they are pointing out the realities and practicalities of what Brexit is going to mean for their businesses, and the challenges it will present, including for the cost of doing business. However, they are also looking to the future, because that is what they need to do as businesses. It looks to us like the UK's strategy will be to work hard to become more competitive, and it will spend a lot on innovation. I note the risks of triggering a race to the bottom, but I feel that the real challenge for the Irish business model will be remaining competitive on the higher value aspects of the economy, because that is what the UK will go after. It will seek to spend aggressively on innovation, research and development, education and skills. The entire innovation ecosystem, including the ranking of our universities, is going to be incredibly important. I would not rule out the UK making aggressive moves in respect of taxation, and that is the real threat to the Irish economic model, rather than a potential race to the bottom at the other end of the economy.