Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have first-hand awareness of the terrific work because I was a member of the county and city enterprise board for five years, from 2009 to 2014. I am, therefore, particularly aware of this issue.

I have a couple of questions for Mr. McElwee and Mr. Clancy. What do they intend to do to assist companies that are too big for LEOs because they have more than ten employees and do not export or are not big enough to fall under the remit of Enterprise Ireland?

It seems to me and people with whom I speak that our trading relationship with the UK is a significant challenge. That is certainly the case with the food exporting sector, particularly with regard to beef. Companies in west Galway are especially concerned about this. While I know that exports remained relatively steady in 2021, there is concern that UK trading deals with Australia and New Zealand will have a significant negative impact on Ireland’s market share.

The Government has made significant investments to help food producers to diversify and attract new markets and customers. The markets Ireland targets are often already served by local food producers. Will Mr. Clancy detail how Enterprise Ireland views this challenge and how it plans to address it?