Mr. Mark Christal:

The food sector was impacted by a number of challenges over the last couple of years but it has proved incredibly resilient in responding. They include the challenge and uncertainty created by Brexit, the impact of the global pandemic and, more recently, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which was a big factor in energy costs spiking and was hugely problematic. There were also supply chain challenges and the sourcing of supply, as well as cost.

In respect of energy costs, we have an energy scheme and are operating an energy scheme on behalf of the Government, which is offsetting some of the costs in certain cases. There are criteria around the scheme for companies that have experienced a drop in their overall performance and EBITDA directly attributable to Ukraine. In some of our sectors some of the inflationary costs have stabilised while some businesses probably had the margin to be able to absorb them and cope with them. It is an ongoing area of support that we are constantly focused on.

A big area we are having a lot of discussions on is the decarbonisation of the sector. I am talking about the processing and manufacturing side of our food industry and engaging with companies across the sector to see what we can do to try to support the decarbonisation agenda of many of our food companies, which are high-intensity energy users. They are very active conversations.