Mr. Steve Aiken:

First, I will talk about the issue of food security, which is tied in with the CAP, and the importance of Ireland as a market and a producer of food for the United Kingdom. The statistics, which are interesting, indicate that Tesco alone takes 20% of all Irish agricultural output for its supermarkets and distribution system. Ireland is essential to the UK's food distribution system for both supermarkets and consumers, and Irish beef and agricultural produce have a high value and standard for British consumers. It is interesting that most produce in British supermarkets is marked as coming from Britain and Ireland or Britain or Ireland.

There are opportunities for Ireland. Not only is there an opportunity now, but Britain will continue to look to Ireland to provide a significant amount of its food as the population there grows and agricultural land comes out of production to cater for these growing populations, as well as for various other reasons. One factor we see as important is that agri-business is beginning to look to the future to see how various developments in beef, dairy and other areas are likely to progress.

With regard to the CAP, the British Irish Chamber of Commerce is a chamber of all of these islands and we spend significant amounts of time talking to the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Government. We understand the issues facing the CAP and we understand that the UK focuses more on what it sees as perceived problems with mountains of various produce. This is something that is very much in the past and has not been the case for some considerable time. As with many areas, there is no informed debate in the UK on what the EU has been doing. We as a chamber are fully involved in talking about what the EU is likely to do for the UK and the importance of that.

This leads to how we will deal with the EU question in the UK and the EU. The feeling on the ground in the UK is very mixed. Within the City of London, the senior financiers we talk to are keen to see the United Kingdom remain within the Single Market. In the regions, particularly those which have had significant EU funding, people again see it as important that the UK remains within the European Union. However, it would be wrong to dismiss the fact that in some respects there seems to be a visceral anti-European feeling in some parts of England. The business community needs to get out and talk about the importance of the European Union, what it means for business, how it is likely to help the United Kingdom and the benefits it has brought. That debate has not happened yet. We want to be part of that debate and to help inform the process.

As a chamber, we are an apolitical organisation and are not involved in any political lobbying in particular areas. However, we want to be part of this informed debate. We are a membership organisation.

The last time we sampled our members, 97% of them clearly said that the UK should remain part of the single European market and engage with it. The other 3% did not respond. I would take that as a fairly clear indication that our membership is pro-Europe. If one examines what our companies are doing and why they are trying to do it, one will find they are ascertaining how they can get leverage. They see the UK as part of Europe. They are conscious of the importance of the link between Ireland, the UK and Europe. That is one of the things we need to be articulating. The chamber will ask the Government, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and all interested parties to transmit the message that the UK needs to understand the benefits and opportunities associated with Europe.

The Deputy also spoke about currency stability. It is interesting that the exchange rate has moved from €1.28 to €1.14 this afternoon. The Bank of England seems to be pushing to devalue sterling in order to improve export opportunities. I do not know whether that is a policy the bank has been given, or just something it is allowing to happen, but it is being welcomed by British exporters. It is something we need to keep a careful eye on because we export so much to the United Kingdom and import a considerable amount from that country. We need to examine how the currency fluctuations are likely to work and where they are likely to go.

We work very closely with Chambers Ireland and many chambers of commerce. When I took over as CEO of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, I said we would not be in competition with anybody, we would be co-operative and we would work closely with a broad range of people, including those involved in Cork Chamber of Commerce, South Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and British chambers of commerce. We would welcome the idea of a one-stop shop, whereby a person who wants to do anything with Ireland plc will have an opportunity to avail of a single gateway or portal and link into whatever he or she needs to do. It is not beyond where we need to go to. I thank Deputy Smith for mentioning that Chambers Ireland has reported on how good the British Trade and Investment Office website is. Given that Ireland has some of the best web designers in the world, there is no reason we cannot do something much more interactive - something to which we can react as well.