Dr. Tom McDonnell:

It is. That is why I was saying general rather than targeted, which could enrage the Trump Administration and bring the tariffs to such a level that it might make the problem worse. In my view, the strategy should be to just go for a general rate that does not focus on bourbon or whatever it might be, which would cause a pushback for us.

There are a lot of economic opportunities for rural Ireland in the future if we can design our policies in such a way that does not put barriers there. For example, if we can arrive at a place where we are more comfortable with working from home, then that means workers do not have to physically be in Dublin, Galway, Limerick or Cork all the time. They can be in the midlands or the north west, Mayo or wherever it might be. There are soft areas where we can mop up and ensure that more of the jobs in existing sectors are based outside of the city areas. That is one thing that would be very important for rural Ireland not to miss as an opportunity. That can be done by the public sector as well. Public sectors jobs no longer have to be in Dublin. The work could be done anywhere in the country. There are existing options for sure.

In terms of new economic opportunities, and developing out the innovation system, every region should have a champion campus. For example, what if some of the former ITs were able, with Government support, to attract some of those academics, which would over time massively improve the rankings of those places and they would generate high-potential spinoff industries or new technologies from those areas? There is no reason that cannot happen just because it has not happened in the past. Resources have not been put into those areas. In many ways I am talking about jobs or sectors that may not even exist yet. If we give the resources educationally and make sure people have a reason to stay in those areas and do not go to Dublin or London, if we keep people there, it will happen over time. Economic development is a long story, one of decades rather than years. Rather than pointing to a specific area, we should, of course, get into artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, it will kill more jobs than it is going to create, although a lot of those jobs will be in cities rather than in rural areas. That is not a fully satisfactory answer to the Senator's question but it is the type of strategy I would pursue. It is something we intend to look at more in the future.