Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for coming in. It is good to see them. We are now at a crunch phase. It depends on the day of the week as to whether we can be optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome but let us hope that the utterings over the past 24 hours mean that there will be a deal in place. Regardless of that, the truth is that even a deal scenario will present many challenges to ICSA and ICMSA members.

To follow on from some of the remarks in the statements, I will ask a couple of questions first of the ICSA. As we will be meeting with Bord Bia later on, can the ICSA give us a view as to whether or not it thinks Bord Bia is doing enough for its members in identifying and supporting products at an international level? In its statement the ICSA referred to the €5 billion Brexit reserve fund as woefully inadequate. That is a fund of which Ireland will receive only a portion. Can the witnesses indicate what figures they think are required and how they should be pin pointed and addressed, either at a domestic or an EU level?

One of the big issues is going to be trade and we have spent much time in this committee talking about the potentially devastating impact of Mercosur. If the ICSA has a position on the CETA trade agreement with Canada, could it share it with us?

The ICMSA expressed concern that much Brexit-related funding is directed towards State agencies and links further up the supply chain, as opposed to farmers who arguably need it more. Can Mr. McCabe or Mr. Enright outline the types of supports they think need to be in place for farmers?

The ICMSA highlighted that the growth of agrifood exports since 2010 stands at 63%. Does the ICMSA have an idea of how much of this related to the British market and how much of this has been generated since the 2016 vote on Brexit? I welcome any views on how this can be mitigated.

How concerned are both organisations about the potential for delays when the land bridge is being used? We have already seen delays at ports in Britain. Do they think we have done enough to mitigate that?