Mr. Gary Tobin:

It is. There are many issues that Europe needs to think about when it comes to what are known as the twin transitions - the green and the digital transitions - as we move to a net zero economy. At the same time, we want to ensure that Europe remains competitive. Absolutely, these are concerns.

One other point I would mention is an interesting statistic which the committee might also be interested in. As the Chair will know, Ireland is celebrating 50 years in the European Union. As we were coming here today, we did a little bit of numerical work on how much money Ireland has received from the Union since it joined in 1973. Since that date Ireland has received over €85 billion in total from the European Union in respect of structural funds and cohesion funds. To date, we have paid in just over €47 billion. While now, on a year-to-year basis, we are a net contributor, if one looks back over the span of the 50 years we have been a member, we have still received €38 billion more than we have ever paid in. I just thought that was interesting and is quite an amazing statistic.