Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I recognise the points Deputy Smith is making. I can see from my conversations with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland in particular that what the Deputy says is absolutely accurate in terms of the challenges facing companies that are dependent on the British market. The UK is a strategically important market for Irish-owned companies. Some sectors such as food, timber, construction and engineering are very dependent on that market. The uncertainty around Brexit is a real issue. Some of the companies have said they are somewhat concerned that we have not seen the same focus on trade that we have seen on other issues. That is to some degree a timing issue in the negotiations. It is worth saying that in 2016, 35%, or €7.55 billion of Enterprise Ireland client exports went to the UK.  By contrast, ten years ago, 45% of EI client exports went to the UK, so we have seen market diversification. Market diversification needs to be supported. There will be a particular focus on the eurozone market, which is important. EI recently launched a strategy to increase client exports to the eurozone by 50%, from €4 billion to €6 billion, by 2020. Since the UK referendum result, my Department and its agencies, InterTradeIreland, Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices have been actively engaging in supporting companies to assess and address their exposure to Brexit. I have already spoken about the EI scorecard. I encourage all businesses to take part in that exercise. Some, but not all companies - even those with huge exposure to the UK market - are necessarily getting involved in that exercise. It is essential they do so and look at their strengths and how they can diversify and look at innovation in order that they have new products. It is not that easy to move from the UK market because companies went there for a very good reason; they were meeting a need there and the prices were good. Diversification will be challenging but it is necessary.

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