Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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The reason I was late was I was on the picket line with the nurses this morning showing solidarity in the same way as I would with any public sector worker or civil servant fighting for his or her rights and entitlements. I read through the submissions and I apologise for being late.

The evidence suggests there is a struggle to recruit nurses and other healthcare professionals. Is there any sense within the groups working on this that Brexit will have a negative or positive impact on the health sector workforce? Much work has been done, which is welcome. We had an engagement previously where the same level of work or engagement was not obvious. Is someone examining the implication for workforce planning? There is mutual recognition of qualifications which has been discussed previously. My sense is that the British health service has aggressively recruited staff because it has a fear of the implications of Brexit for its staffing numbers. Is this being countered?

It was stated in the submissions that the HSE is continuing to work on awareness of Brexit among HSE and health service staff generally, key suppliers, patients and with the public. I appreciate the dilemma because we do not want to panic people. We have been focused on Brexit for a long time. However, more people are beginning to focus their attention on it and they are concerned. I have spoken to people who are nervous and asking whether they should get a six months supply with their next prescription. There will be an issue if everybody starts stockpiling. I respect it can be tricky but has any consideration been given to a media campaign? It should be more than just talking to the professionals and somewhere along the lines of radio, television or newspaper advertisements.

The Department stated it would be impossible in a no-deal scenario to maintain the current seamless arrangements between the EU and the UK across a range of sectors that are currently facilitated by our common EU membership. There is no such thing as a good Brexit. We said this repeatedly and nobody majority on the island voted for it. However, we are where we are. In the event of a no-deal scenario, where will the first implications hit? Will there be a requirement at that stage for legislative change or will it have to come in advance of that?

Last weekend, I attended a conference in Belfast and was also at the Border Communities against Brexit protest, where people asked me about cross-Border health services. For example, GP out-of-hours services operate between Keady and Castleblayney, and Altnagelvin and Inishowen. They work well because they are geographically close. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, will these services continue? Is it anticipated that there will be a break in some services while alternative arrangements are made? I recognise it is not the fault of any person in this room that we find ourselves where we are. However, is it anticipated that there will be a break and then it will be necessary to restore those services or is it anticipated that services will continue seamlessly?

I asked if service level agreements had been Brexit-proofed at a previous committee meeting. It was a year ago and the answer was, "We did not know". I appreciate that at that stage nobody could have predicted how this would go. The level of unpreparedness in Britain and its impact on us is a concerns. It is clear that while we could do all the work to prepare ourselves, we are geographically close to people who may undo any good work that might be done.