Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State and his officials for coming here to speak before the committee. We wish him every success in future and look forward to working with him in the time ahead. One advantage of speaking last is there is not much left to say, although perhaps that is not an advantage as such.

I will focus on the Brexit element and I have two or three queries. Perhaps the Minister of State can deal with them or come back to us on them. I agree totally with the previous speakers and there is no point in going over that ground. Deputy Durkan made a point about the people advocating Brexit. The problem, as Deputy Haughey stated, is that Europe is seen as removed from our lives with respect to policy and it does not seem to have much understanding sometimes. It has an idea that one size fits all, which does not happen in all cases. Sometimes that gives oxygen to the eurosceptics when they come out to support issues like Brexit. We saw it happening in the recent campaign. As Deputy Durkan mentioned, the leaders of that campaign were no longer around after 24 or 48 hours to say what would be the follow-up and where the country went from there. They did not indicate how the issue was thought through and what happens. The reality is it was not thought through because nobody expected the vote and outcome in the way it unfolded. People are now scrambling and seeking solutions to provide a roadmap for what has not been predicted or considered.

One of Senator Leyden's proposals is very important, as it is necessary for Ireland to be aligned with the UK. It has had success for years with trade, business and all sorts of other relationships across different sectors. It is very important that Ireland has somebody at that table for the discussions to look after the future of the country and sustainability across all the areas we are concerned about. If we are to take an issue from today's meeting, it should be this and we should pursue it to see if it is possible. We must try to make it possible.

I serve the constituency of Kildare North and, like every other constituency, it has many exports to the UK. It is suffering because of the currency changes. It is a massive problem. I know there are issues to deal with down the road but now there are many problems for the small and medium enterprise, SME, sector and people exporting to the UK because of the currency exchange rate. These people are being put under much pressure financially and cannot go after their market to seek a top-up in the currency exchange. That would rule them out of business. We know the employment provided by the SME sector and the financial spin-off to the national economy.

I do not know what discussions have taken place on this or if it has been considered. Is it too early a stage? What are the thoughts of the Department or the Government on dealing with the issue? I know the Minister of State is aware that it is major issue with business and particularly those exporting to the UK. Many businesses export through the UK and I do not know if that has been considered. Many alarm bells are now ringing in businesses as they wonder how they will manage as Brexit develops and predictions ring true in the timelines set out. They are considering how that will affect them.

These are two major issues affecting businesses, the SME sector, exports, jobs and this economy. We must see how they can be dealt with and I wonder what are the Minister of State's views. Has there been any discussion on them?