Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister and Minister of State on their new roles.

If Brexit were to happen, a weakening of sterling would be a considerable concern for us in the short term. There are broader issues, which the Minister has outlined. There would be challenges to Ireland as the food nation and food island, with our counterparts in Northern Ireland, and I ask the Minister to use his good offices to address those challenges. There are approximately 900,000 citizens with a vote in the UK who have Irish connections and while it is a choice for them, as the Minister, Deputy Charlie Flanagan, has outlined, we should use our good offices here to portray to them that it would have a negative impact on our country. We should also examine any potential positives of a Brexit and how they would feed through.

In terms of TTIP, low commodity prices, which are a very significant concern for the primary producer at present, are an issue and access to the markets is absolutely crucial. As part of TTIP we should make sure we do not trade beef off against other commodities but anything that opens up new markets is a positive.

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