Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the delegation from the Irish Exporters Association. Mr. Daly has given us one of the starkest presentations we have received in this series. This was intended to be a review of the capital plan, but it has become a review of the capital plan in the context of Brexit. The presentation we have received places a very stark focus on how ill-prepared we are for a soft or hard Brexit. It appears from some of the commentary in the Bundestag this afternoon that it will be a hard Brexit.

I would like to tease out the association's proposal for public service obligation flights into a hub. I expect that Heathrow Airport will be relatively redundant in this context after Brexit, when all of the difficulties Mr. Daly mentioned will be evident. I presume the hub would need to be within the European Union. What public service obligation changes would the delegates like to see to allow us to develop it? How has it worked in Derry?

I would also like to ask about the landbridge crossings. If we are to pursue Waterford and Rosslare as the two main ports that need to be developed with Dublin Port, what capital investment will be needed in the view of the association's members? Mr. Daly referred to inadequacies in areas such as storage and access. What specific investment is needed in these two ports? What are the delegates' views on the ownership structure of Rosslare Europort which seems to be presenting a challenge in the development of the port in order that its potential can be maximised?

Mr. Daly mentioned a series of regional infrastructure challenges. We will be drawing attention to all of them. If he were the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and in charge of allocating the extra capital budget to specific projects, what would they be? Does the association have a view on what should be done with the proceeds of the sale of AIB, the first tranche of which will be available soon? In view of the starkness of the association's presentation, should the proceeds be used for capital investment?