Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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In terms of the development of the enterprise ecosystem - and we want to want to become part of the global supply chain for international projects - to what extent does Mr. Tobin think manufacturing will have a role to play? We know that research, development and innovation in technology will to be essential, and we have to develop and invest in that area. In terms of manufacturing, the committee visited Belfast Port, which is the only port capable of facilitating the construction of offshore wind farms. If we had access to a time machine, we could possibly go back and start this a long time ago. If we do not get our ports ready now, does Mr. Tobin think that we could lose the jobs and the supply chain business and that the multibillion euro projects could go to other states? How quickly does he think we could ready our ports for those offshore operations and maintenance such that they can become industrial hubs and part of clusters to assist microbusinesses, SMEs and family businesses in coming together? What is the timeline for us in that regard? Does Mr. Tobin see manufacturing as not being that important or that it could be done elsewhere? Does he see it happening on this island? Obviously, it is only happening in one place at the moment, which is the issue.