Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's commitment to ensure smaller enterprises will receive support. It is very important that these enterprises have the capacity and capability to draw down whatever support is necessary. When programmes of assistance are available, often it is the most needy who are not in a position to draw down that support. It is extremely important that we address that issue.

In the context of Mr. Johnson's proposals, Manufacturing Northern Ireland made the point recently that 99% of manufacturing businesses in Northern Ireland were small and medium enterprises. Only 1% of manufacturing businesses in Northern Ireland are large. As the economy of the Border counties is similar, it is extremely important that assistance be targeted at small and medium enterprises.

I mentioned, as did the Minister, the importance of the agrifood sector, the construction products sector, engineering and tourism to the Border economy. The economies are inter-dependent. The message must be got across both to the Northern Ireland and British authorities and within the agencies in this state that we need businesses, North and South, working together. The companies in Clones or Ballyconnell that export to Fermanagh, Tyrone or Armagh do not regard it as an export but as local trade. We have to factor in to all decision-making the inter-dependence of the economies, North and South.

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