Mr. Martin Robinson:

I do not have the figures for Clare to hand but we track them and we can provide this information. One of the things we are working on, because we feel it is very powerful, is to have very strong case studies of businesses in various parts of the country and various sectors. They speak for themselves in terms of the benefits. We will follow up and provide some of this more granular data to Deputy Wynne.

I have some facts and figures in front of me from our All-Island Business Monitor on the issues. The cost of energy and the cost of other overheads has been the key issue for businesses for two years. The data we have at present shows that it is easing a little bit. The point Deputy Wynne made about the competition is something we need to watch.

With regard to the relative performance of cross-Border and non-cross-Border traders, we have seen that those businesses that trade cross-Border enjoy higher levels of growth. I will give some examples of this. In our recent survey, one third of cross-Border traders reported increased sales compared to one quarter of those that do not sell across the Border; and three quarters of businesses with cross-Border sales reported they were profitable, which drops to two thirds of businesses that do not sell across the Border. These facts speak for themselves. A total of 31% of cross-Border traders reported they were enjoying rapid or moderate growth compared to 13% of those businesses that do not. Our call to businesses is that the cross-Border market creates opportunities and enables them to increase sales and profits and be more resilient. It is a market they should be looking to.