Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the information. There is some encouragement, in so far as there is growth in exports to the European market and the US market.

There is concern, and maybe the Minister can respond to this, that the level of imports is much the same as it was in 2015 and while the percentage level of exports to the UK has gone down, their value has gone up. Clearly, we are still very dependent on that market and we face, possibly, a hard Brexit. Can the Minister let me know what is being done to ensure that our dependence on the UK market does not continue to be as high as it is?

Later, in one of my own questions, I refer to research that was done by the ESRI and the Department on imports and exports. The research states that food products are particularly exposed in a relatively high dependence on the UK market because there may be tariffs as high as 18% in a hard Brexit scenario. Much of the foodstuff does not come under Deputy Humphreys' Department but a good lot of it, such as processed food, does. Is there a particular focus on food products, which are at risk in terms of the possibility of a hard Brexit?

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