Ms Patricia King:

I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett on the diversification of industry. Ireland is over-dependent on foreign direct investment which can be unstable. For example, a company may locate here and stay for three decades before deciding to exit the country. This in itself brings an instability. My predecessor, Mr. David Begg, was highly knowledgeable of and wrote extensively on the need for Ireland's economy to be based on a much more stable, indigenous industry in which people are trained in different disciplines and so on.

I also agree with the Deputy on the opportunities available in the renewable energy and forestry sectors. This came up briefly at the Carrick-on-Shannon consultation on Brexit where one of the contributors on the panel, who represented an employer group, made the point that farmers must think about switching to forestry and so on. While there is nothing wrong with aspiring to make such a switch, if a farmer's job is to rear 50 head of cattle and bring them for slaughter to the local factory and Brexit creates an impediment or trade barrier which prevents the factory from selling the meat, he will be left with 50 head of cattle. There is no point in telling him to consider planting trees as there is a timeframe involved. The farmer must earn a living and if he is not rearing 50 cattle for a factory and wishes to make money from forestry, he will need a plan and timeframe for diversification if he is to do so. It is not about the principle of diversifying but about having a realistic and practical plan which will allow the income earner to do something different. That is the only caveat because I do not have an issue with any of the principles involved in moving to renewable energy.