Ms Kerry Curran:

I just want to touch base on the most effective learning tools, which was the Deputy's first point. As Ms Hearty described, the key theme in respect of the supports we have put in place both for Brexit and Covid-19 is that they have been business-led. We asked businesses what they needed and we responded flexibly. We have received positive feedback from businesses that have availed of our services on the individual support and solutions we have provided to the problems and concerns they are experiencing in their business. We have not told them what they needed; they have told us what the problem is and we have found a solution. That is the recurring theme here.

If I may, I will touch briefly on the engagement with the UK and the EU in the current negotiations and the build-up to where we now. As the cross-Border body representing SMEs across the whole of the island, since 2016 we have been deeply engaged at the policy level with the ongoing work on the development of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol. We have certainly been given every opportunity to feed in the extensive research we have undertaken on the potential impact of Brexit into a wide variety of forums. We have engaged with the Irish Government directly with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and his work, but also with ministers in Northern Ireland and the Cabinet Office in London. We sat on the Joint Customs Consultative Committee in the UK and we have been working very closely with the Trade Remedies Authority and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, HMRC. We have hosted ministers and MEPs from across Europe at our offices in Newry in recent years to support the dissemination of information on the potential impacts of Brexit and different outcomes and scenarios on businesses on the island of Ireland.

We certainly have had the opportunity, which we have taken, to feed into the evidence base in order that the outcomes of the negotiations will not be without the evidence to support them.