Ms Nicola Byrne:

We are looking for money to refund. Realistically, we are not going to do it if the land bridge is removed from us.

The second point was on energy and connectivity. I was present when the memorandum of understanding was signed between London and Dublin. The British and Irish Governments got together on shipping energy across the water. Energy is not as great a risk for us but while connectivity heading to France is always an option, it is something we should be concerned about. The cost problem for our members in Ireland is due to the focus on green energy. We have looked to head green and the cost of that has been carried by all business but I do not believe they have that correct when it comes to energy.

Internal energy issues for our members who want to trade out of the country are a real concern. Because green energy has taken such a priority, we are funding something that has not been well thought out. The ESB and the Government need to get together to address that issue because we will not be competitive. Every survey the IDA and Enterprise Ireland run compares us with western Europe in terms of Switzerland, France and Germany. They take the highest value markets to compare us with. Unfortunately, when we lose our connectivity to the UK, we will be competing with Poland and Romania where the cost of living and the cost of doing business are substantially lower.

It looks great to say we are doing well because we have compared ourselves with high value countries, but when we compare ourselves with where the competition is going to come from, it is not going to work out. We have not been looking at the full picture. We have deliberately focused our gaze to make ourselves look good. Having said that, we have the best productivity in the world. Our GNP and Irish productivity show that if one spends $1 in Ireland, one will get 50% more productivity than anywhere else in the world. Our labour is good and our productivity is superb, but we do not have cost competitiveness. Energy is a big factor in that regard.