Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is clear from the budget the Minister is preparing that there will be a tax package and a social welfare package. The official statistics will show that we are in surplus, not a no-deal situation, where we will be in deficit, yet, as the Minister says, it is being framed as a no-deal budget. If it was really being framed as a no-deal budget, it would be very different because it would show the deficit. They would be the official figures and so on. I am concerned about the package that will be available to deal with contingencies. Unfortunately, not much information on the sector-specific analysis has been released. It would equip us to see what would be the best responses for those sectors in the context of there being no deal. None of us knows what the real impact would be, but there are some things we can predict in respect of the agrifood sector and what will happen if sterling moves to a certain point because certain sectors are price-sensitive.

We have argued for a Brexit contingency fund. On Brexit preparedness, the Minister has said he has the rainy day fund. We have heard the IFAC tell the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach that the rainy day fund cannot be used to fund Brexit mitigation measures. As set down in legislation, it is very clear that there are three criteria for its use: structural reform, financial support and natural disasters but not something that is anticipated or identified. Is the Minister suggesting the rainy day fund can be used to support sectors such as agrifood and tourism in particular regions that will be hit by Brexit, particularly a no-deal Brexit?