Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 25 May 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Brexit - Recent Developments and Future Negotiations: Discussion (Resumed)

10:00 am

Mr. Brian Keegan:

That is correct. We have heard a lot of useful statistics today and the ones to note are from Enterprise Ireland, which is looking after the constituency the Chairman is talking about. The clients of Enterprise Ireland trade almost twice as much as any other area in the world and that is the particular grouping that will be the most adversely affected. The larger exporters have economies of scale. They have expertise inhouse. They can scale up. It is, as the Chairman states, the SME sector, which accounts for such a high proportion of jobs in this country which will be the most affected.