Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together.

The UK's decision on EU membership later this week is solely a matter for UK voters. However, those voters include Irish citizens living in Great Britain, voters in Northern Ireland and UK citizens living here. As the UK's closest neighbour, Ireland has a unique perspective and interest in the outcome of the referendum. The Government has made clear our hope that the UK will decide to stay in the European Union.

I and other members of the Government have completed a targeted programme of outreach in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Irish and Irish-connected citizens in the UK who have a vote. Last week, I had engagements in Belfast and a programme of events in Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, where I met with the Irish community. I also attended a summit meeting of the British-Irish Council in Glasgow. My programme coincided with the shocking death of Jo Cox, MP, in West Yorkshire, to whom we have just paid our respects. Out of respect for her and her family and in light of the suspension of the two official campaigns, I refrained from issuing any public statements about the referendum. I have no specific plans to visit Great Britain as of now.

Ireland will have a clear plan in place to deal with the implications of a UK vote to leave if that is the outcome, which I hope will not be the case. The key priority for Government would be to protect and promote Ireland's interests to the greatest extent possible in the event that the UK votes to leave. We have a whole-of-Government contingency framework which maps the key issues that would be most important to Ireland, dealing with the economy, trade and spending power in the days, weeks and months following a "leave" vote. In the event of that becoming a reality, this would be the framework within which each Minister, Department and agency would manage the policy, operational and programmatic implications that could arise from a UK vote to leave the EU. It will be capable of adapting to changing circumstances, depending on developments in the context of ongoing EU-UK negotiations on new arrangements and bilateral discussions between the UK and Irish Governments.

A key priority would be to mitigate as far as possible any potential disruption to trade, investment and jobs. In this regard, many commentators have suggested a period of volatility in the markets and suggested that sterling would suffer losses against the euro. It remains to be seen if this is the case and the extent to which markets have already priced in any degree of risk. However, if a sustained decrease in the value of sterling did transpire, clearly this would have serious implications for our exports. Given the importance of the Irish enterprise sector, the enterprise agencies are factoring this issue into their own contingency planning and are tracking where potential impacts may arise. Enterprise Ireland already has a significant number of programmes available to companies who face competitive threats from various sources. In addition, a key policy priority in recent years for both the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland has been to support geographic market diversification.

Our contingency framework also contains clear actions on communications and diplomatic contacts. In this regard, I will travel to Brussels next week for the European Council meeting where EU leaders will have a first opportunity to discuss the referendum result, to assess its implications and to begin to chart a way forward. I intend to make a more detailed statement on Ireland's position in my pre-Council statement to the House after the conclusion of these questions.

See this speech in context