Mr. Leo Clancy:

It surprised us a little last year when the exports to the UK went up and got to 31% of total exports. In the context of Brexit, what we are always mindful of is that Brexit has the potential to provide certain barriers for Irish exporters but it is our nearest neighbour and our nearest trading partner. Also, we are the nearest trading partner of the UK. That long-standing relationship is strong and beneficial. We are keen to see that the UK remains a strong party.

I, like the Deputy, believe there is huge potential in the wider eurozone though. As a proportion of our exports, it can be larger. We have a eurozone strategy, which we launched a number of years ago. It is bearing fruit, in terms of continued growth in the eurozone. We have also got a specific training programme which is focused on helping companies accessing the eurozone. It is called "Enter the Eurozone", as the Deputy might expect. It is focused on helping our companies to be more aware of the opportunity. Over time, Irish companies have defaulted to a certain extent to the comfort of English-speaking markets - UK, US, Canada, Australia even. We are trying. I did a count, and I just need to be check on this. I think we have 13 offices across the eurozone or, more properly, if we look at the European Union, the Single Market. We certainly have a huge effort in terms of increasing that number.