Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear that the Minister is satisfied because I do not believe any others are, or certainly the agrifood sector is not. I am pointing out to the Minister nothing more than his own commentary since October 2017 on the loan scheme. He was the man selling it as a key panacea and measure by the Government to prepare for a hard Brexit. They were his own words. It was the first point he would make. Regardless of the issue or concern we would raise with him, his response was to the effect, "Don’t worry guys. I have this loan scheme coming". It is a bit rich, with the possibility of a hard Brexit only a couple of weeks away, that the scheme still has not arrived and that the Minister has not delivered on it. Unfortunately, that is symptomatic of the other preparations we have not seen from him.

When responding the Minister might update us on the 300 SPS veterinary officers he was to hire. Again, as recently as last September, he was telling us they would be in place in the event of a hard Brexit. I am aware he downgraded that figure to 116. How many of those are in place? That was another key measure he said would be in place.

The unfortunate reality is that the Government is not prepared for a hard Brexit. It has hoped for the best rather that prepared for the worst. Can the Minister clarify now the status of those veterinary officers?

In particular, we need absolute clarity in regard to the support packages that will be available to the agrifood sector in the event of a hard Brexit because it is already impacting on confidence and prices.

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