Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Of course they will feel the impact. We are asking them to prepare for the challenges posed by Brexit. I have held a number of meetings along the Border. I visited all the Border counties where we had specific Brexit information meetings, in conjunction with the accountancy bodies because businesses often turn to accountants. Last year, I provided additional funding to InterTradeIreland, which supports businesses on both sides of the Border. Deputy Munster and I know that jobs lost in Armagh or Newry can have an impact on people south of the Border. A total of 5,008 SMEs directly engaged with the InterTradeIreland Brexit advisory service in 2019. That is in addition to the 4,175 engagements in 2018. There were 1,964 applications for InterTradeIreland Brexit planning vouchers, with 1,665 approved and 74 still pending assessment. InterTradeIreland has paid out a large amount of money to support businesses that trade on a cross-Border basis. The majority of these are businesses operating on both sides of the Border.