Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like the Cathaoirleach, I welcome Mr. McDonnell and complement him on the work he has done advocating on behalf of Irish SMEs over the years. I compliment him and his colleagues for highlighting many issues of concern to the people within their sector.

On his point about the census, the returns are welcome. I am thankful there had been population growth in every county over the past number of years. For those of us who come from an area devastated by emigration in the past are heartened to see the population of my own county of Cavan and neighbouring Monaghan increase. Fortunately, Cavan's population has grown in each consecutive census since the mid-1990s. We have always been concerned about too much growth on the east coast, and that must be counteracted. An important way of counteracting an imbalance in the population of the country is to ensure that there are job opportunities in particular areas. We are all very much influenced by where we come from. In my constituency, our economy and labour force are dependent on SMEs. I am thankful that we have many companies which are international corporations now but which started off as one-person operations. Advocating for and representing the views of SMEs is especially important for the rural and regional economy as well.

Mr. McDonnell mentioned that when an Irish SME exports, its first export market is Northern Ireland and it then looks to the British market. That is what we learn from engaging with businesses. Mr. McDonnell says there is a great willingness in the Republic to grow trade with Northern Ireland. I hope there is a similar willingness in Northern Ireland to grow trade with us, because, fortunately, since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the all-Ireland economy has developed, evolved and grown remarkably. A sister organisation of ISME, IBEC, gave us some figures on some of the companies that have an all-Ireland presence nowadays, are exporting north and south and have manufacturing bases both sides of the Border.

I return to the areas that are less developed, like the central Border region. The Dublin-Belfast corridor will always look after itself because it has the population and the two major cities. Derry-Letterkenny-Donegal has a strong population base and educational presence as well. Those of us in the central Border region, North and South, which includes Cavan and Monaghan as well as Leitrim and our neighbours in Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh, are dependent on SMEs and local indigenous enterprises. It is important, therefore, to ensure that those types of enterprises are supported as strongly as possible. On trade with Northern Ireland, I think of companies in my constituency that have a presence on both sides of the Border. Their trade is very much North-South and South-North.

Mr. McDonnell mentioned a diminution of workers' rights north of the Border, which is an issue of concern to all of us. It is sad to be hearing that at this time. In fairness to the Oireachtas, from 2016 onwards much of the time of the Dáil, Seanad and their committees has been taken up with engaging parliamentary groups from Britain and elsewhere on the possible impact of Brexit. The thing we heard from British representatives was that there would not be a race to the bottom in the context of standards. At that time, we were maybe talking about standards of food production, provenance and all that. We were being assured there would not be a race to the bottom and diminution of standards. It is very disheartening to hear of a diminution of workers' rights. That would be deplorable if it is happening.

Are any of ISME's constituent member companies based in Northern Ireland or is the organisation totally based in this State? Mr. McDonnell mentioned the good work of Enterprise Ireland, which I wholly endorse. At one time, establishing an all-Ireland enterprise development agency was being considered. It would have encompassed IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. That would have been a wonderful development for all of the island. Does Mr. McDonnell see merit in an all-Ireland investment development agency? My understanding is InterTradeIreland does good work on an all-Ireland basis. Will Mr. McDonnell comment on his interactions and those of his members with it?