Mr. Martin Robinson:

To echo some of what the Deputy said, our research has demonstrated to us that three quarters of the businesses that sell across the Border go on to sell off the island. That is really significant. The bar of the cross-Border market gives them the confidence and skills to do that outreach. The example was given earlier of the car company that is now selling very successfully across Great Britain. The Deputy is right in the sense that wherever the opportunities exist, whether North to South or east to west, businesses will seek to exploit them. I hope it will not be the case that there are impediments in this regard and I do not think businesses will allow that to be the case. They will find those opportunities wherever they exist. By all means, organisations such as ours and others need to collaborate to ensure we can help businesses to identify the opportunities and source the customers and suppliers they need to grow and develop. That is something we intend to do.

Regarding the Deputy's comments and concerns around the command paper, it is very recent and we will look at what those concerns might be. My overall sense of it, going back to one of the earlier questions, is that where opportunities exist in the cross-Border market, our businesses will still find those opportunities. We will be there by their side signposting them to where the opportunities exist and providing very practical supports to enable them to take advantage of those opportunities and to open the doors to new sales.