Mr. Neil McDonnell:

We thank the joint committee for inviting us to address it on the subject of Brexit. As our submission is on the record, we do not intend to read through it. The key risks we have identified from Brexit are currency fluctuation, access to credit and domestic competitiveness. Allied to that, the potential departure of the UK from social chapter legislation would have a further effect on domestic and international competitiveness. In that context, I remind the committee that at the current exchange rate, the UK minimum wage of £7.20 equates to €8.08. It is obvious that each-way market access across the Border and into Great Britain is very important. Our interests in negotiating the British tariff arrangements are not necessarily the same as the interests of our large trading partners on the Continent, such as France and Germany, because our export mix is not the same as the export mix of other EU member states.

The extent to which a soft or hard Border and Border controls will be imposed will have an impact on access to the UK. We ask the committee to bear in mind that it will also have an impact on transit from Donegal through Northern Ireland to Irish ports and on land-bridging through Great Britain. It is clear that we do not want large-scale customs and tariffs to be imposed. We are also concerned about the impact of Brexit on the action plan for jobs that was published previously. In the longer term, we believe the Government must reconsider and reconfigure this country's policy in the area of foreign direct investment, bearing in mind Ireland's future position as the last remaining English-speaking country in the EU. We are encouraging an "Ireland first" determination to exploit the opportunities arising from Brexit that are best suited to our economy and our workforce.

We are asking the committee, especially on behalf of small businesses, to bear in mind when it asks us questions about the impact of Brexit on small businesses that a certain amount of this is unknown. Many of our member companies and small businesses are transacting business with larger businesses. The committee will hear from representatives of larger businesses later in this meeting. We do not yet know what the extent of their exposure will be in areas like forestry, tourism and business and agriculture supplies. We participated in the all-Ireland dialogue last week. We believe that forum was successful in identifying most of the streams of work that are necessary to plot a detailed Brexit strategy for Ireland.

We ask this committee to encourage the Government to take a more streamlined approach to the planning and management of the Brexit issue. This should be based along departmental lines and should start with the Departments that are most affected. I refer to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, which this committee marks, and also to the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Transport, Tourism and Sport. If this does not happen, trade associations like ISME and the businesses we represent will simply end up regurgitating the same information in duplicate to many Departments and committees. We would like the Government to spare us that fate.