Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste. There are a couple of areas I wish to pick up on in order to drill down. The first is tied to the point on which the Tánaiste finished in terms of the work EI is doing with businesses to help them prepare. What work has been carried out in recent weeks to help businesses prepare for the checks that are due to be implemented in Great Britain on 1 January for Irish companies that are exporting to the British market?

The second and more important point relates to the more general approach to championing diversification. The diversification of export markets was discussed earlier with the Minister of State with responsibility for agriculture and trade promotion, Deputy Heydon. I refer to the diversification of routes and logistics to encourage more companies to avoid the land bridge where possible and ship direct to our biggest market which is, of course, the continental EU. How is that being developed through the appointment of officials from IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia or Tourism Ireland within Irish embassies to help us grow our footprint in continental European markets and other markets we approach through European trade deals?

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