Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am speaking from Leinster House but as the witnesses might judge from my accent, I am from a Border county and I live in Monaghan. My camera is not working but perhaps I am doing everyone a favour with that technical fault. I welcome the witnesses and thank them for taking time out to be here to discuss this very important matter.

Ms Sinnamon has been to the Border counties many times and knows food production, particularly in Cavan and Monaghan, is a very important and key industry for us.

Many jobs depend on it. I wonder about the long term. It is difficult to get a true picture, as Ms Sinnamon touched on earlier, because many businesses were trying to adjust to Brexit and then Covid came along. Many of them are probably still not trading in full flow because of that. Bearing in mind that food production is so important to the Border region, does Ms Sinnamon see any major long-term difficulties? What future does she predict, insofar as she can, for mushrooms or poultry in counties such as Monaghan and Cavan, given that the UK is their main market? Will they be able to adapt? Currency fluctuations and so on make it difficult to make predictions but, by and large, the UK marketplace is the only show in town for many in the Border counties because the shelf-life of mushrooms, for example, is short.

In the 18 months or two years leading up to Brexit, Enterprise Ireland encouraged businesses to find out what supports were available. Ms Sinnamon might go over the statistic with me if she has it to hand but I read somewhere that a significant number of companies have yet to engage with Enterprise Ireland on Brexit. What is causing this lack of engagement? That will be worrying if it continues. Covid is probably hampering businesses because they may believe they should wait until the pandemic is over before engaging. There is always an excuse not to engage. How concerned is Ms. Sinnamon about that? What are the long-term prospects of the Border region given that the UK is its main marketplace?