Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The new proposal replacing the backstop will effectively see a border down the Irish Sea. Will the Minister explain what implications this will have on east-west trade?

A new fund of €110 million was announced as part of the budget, about which I asked the Minister on Question Time just after the budget. Has she any more details on the breakdown of what elements of this will comprise grants, repayable grants and loans?

What will the Department do to ensure a greater uptake of existing schemes referred to in the opening statement? On the number of businesses identified by Revenue as having traded with the UK in 2018, in a reply to a parliamentary question I tabled, it was stated only 1% of the 90,000 businesses, that is 531, have so far participated in the Government’s Brexit preparedness one-day workshops. That is a low uptake. Why is it so low? What has the Department done to increase participation?

On the state aid ceiling rules under EU regulation 1407/2013, has the Minister made a formal application to the European Commission for a temporary derogation and increased flexibility in the event of a hard Brexit?

The Minister referred to the two significant job loss announcements in the past 24 hours. All our thoughts are with the workers affected. Was there any early warning about these announcements? Previously there used to be an early warning system in the Department for potential job losses. Will the Minister confirm if that early warning system still exists? If so, why did it not work on this occasion? According to the Taoiseach on Leaders’ Questions earlier today, the first the Government seemed to know about these job losses was yesterday.