Ms Marie Armstrong:

On the east-west issue, while we are looking to change our markets, countries in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia are in the process of setting up their own equivalent of the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Exporters Association. They are putting in billions to fund this as they are looking to change their own dynamics and what they do. We have to be mindful that countries in the east are looking to go west while we are looking to go east.

Senator Daly asked what we have that predates the EU that we could preserve or latch on to. One thing is our horse industry. Those who are interested in horses or racing may know that there is a scheme between Ireland, France and the UK which predates the EU, and which allows for the movement of horses between those three countries without having to go through a lot of regulation or veterinary checks. It is like a passport scheme. When we start looking harder we will see that there are arrangements that predate the EU, which might help give us some avenues. It is no different from arguing the case in respect of water.