Mr. Leo Clancy:

I will start and then hand over to Mr. McElwee. Many companies have had difficulty in the lead-up to Brexit and Covid. Thankfully, the lead-up to Brexit has been longer than we had anticipated and so it has given companies more time to be ready. Enterprise Ireland has been supporting companies since 2016. We got out of the blocks very early in terms of supporting companies, as did the LEOs. The extended period has served people well in terms of being ready. In the period leading into Christmas last, where we had a deadline of 1 January, which was subsequently deferred, we saw a lot of registrations from smaller companies in particular that would not have had them. There were some encouraging signs that companies are ready. Large companies are very ready. Anyone to whom I have spoken on the large company side, or even the medium side, have said they have made appropriate provision. That said, I do not doubt that there may be some negative consequences yet to come from Brexit.

In terms of the overall picture, post Covid, of company stability and the potential for examinership or difficulties, we are not seeing huge trend data and we are not hearing massive concern from our client base that they will be in trouble. The results last year speak to that. There was a very strong resurgence. Companies had been able to reopen gradually during 2021. That said, there will be examinerships. The low-cost examinership process that has been put in place is very welcome. There will be companies that get into difficulty. The bigger concerns at the moment are inflation, the cost of goods and the cost of shipping for companies. Those are the areas that potentially are driving difficulty, maybe more so than market difficulties because markets have reopened to a large extent. We are not seeing massive signs of difficulty.

In regard to the question around diversification, we have seen significant and continued diversification from the UK market over the years. That has happened in a really positive way. Since 2010, the UK has accounted for approximately 50% of our exports. In 2022, that figure stands at 30%. That is a proportion that we intend to maintain. We think that 30% into the UK is a level we are going to maintain over the coming years. That diversification has gone elsewhere. Even in the context of the percentage diversification, we have seen the absolute amount of exports into the UK continue to grow over time. We are targeting the same over the coming four or five years such that we will see exports to the UK continue to grow, albeit at a lower rate than might have been the case. Exports elsewhere will continue to grow. Through programmes such as Enter the Eurozone, we are very focused on particularly highlighting the eurozone as an opportunity for clients. In my view and that of my colleagues, Irish companies are not availing enough of the opportunity that being part of the Single Market presents us. That is a huge opportunity area for us in the coming years. I will hand over to Mr. McElwee for any follow-on comments on company closures in particular.