Ms Anne Lanigan:

We recognise that it is difficult for companies to identify where they might be exposed and, particularly, what they can do about it. That is how the Brexit scorecard emerged. We identified nine areas of exposure, some of which are now getting a lot of attention from our companies. At the Portlaoise clinic, for example, as well as the other clinics we are running, we are focusing on three areas: financial and currency management, strategic sourcing, and customs and logistics. Brexit or no Brexit, at this point companies can genuinely take some action in those areas and start to make changes within their business. We are also seeing a lot of attention around the customs piece. That is probably due to the attention it is now getting in the public domain. It seems quite clear that there will be a necessity for customs procedures. Whatever happens with Brexit, they do need to understand the implications of this for their businesses.

As Mr. Sherry mentioned, we have a team of consultants working with our companies at the clinics, where they pre-book meetings. Typically, between 30 and 50 meetings with consultants take place at those clinics. Separately, we are also offering consultancy to companies where they need to spend some time with somebody outside of the business who understands the issues relating to Brexit that will impact on the company, so they can put together an action plan. The output of these clinics and the consultant interventions is an action plan. This allows the companies to have clear actions in terms of what they can do next. It does not need to be a long list. We are seeing companies recognising the issues. Some 2,100 companies have done the scorecard. That means they have been prompted to think about the things they are exposed to and are taking actions around that.

Of course we would like to see more action. However, we must recognise that many of these companies are small businesses. They have to run their business at the same time. That is why the focus is very much on things they can do for their businesses that make sense anyway and that will strengthen their businesses no matter what kind of Brexit we have.