Mr. Michael Blaney:

I want to echo those points. It is really the issue around free movement of people and labour that could pose the biggest problem for development in the financial services and insurance industries. There has been talk of employers and landlords perhaps having to verify the nationalities of people. That is an extra burden that may be placed on employers who may employ people coming across the Border to work for them and on landlords who have tenants staying in their properties. I am not sure how viable that plan is. It certainly would not be popular among business owners as it would be another check they feel they must carry out on behalf of the State. It is about the availability of talent and the importance of the continuation of the free movement of talent. We have a strong ambition to develop our trading in the Republic, but if there are too many barriers put up to that development, we would end up having to consider expanding to the market in Britain as an alternative. We are already regulated there.

From talking to other businesses about this, one of the major concerns is around the uncertainty of it all and the length of time it is going to take for certainty around issues to become clear. One chief executive officer of a large business in our area has told me that business will not wait. Businesses will decide to invest in a more stable climate and that, potentially, would be a shame. It is very important for these types of discussions to lead to action, one hopes. It is great to have the opportunity to put our case forward on the real issues we are facing.