Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. Clearly, we are speaking about a hypothetical situation, but it is a distinct possibility. The opinion polls have been quite mixed in recent days in terms of what the outcome is likely to be. The fundamental pillars of the European Union are the free movement of goods and services and of labour, so for us as a country the key issues that will need to be dealt with from a trade perspective are the possibility of trade barriers and tariffs being put in place and the free movement of labour between the UK and Ireland. If there is a Brexit, there will be a period of uncertainty and one of the key questions is whether it would be possible for the UK and Ireland to enter a bilateral agreement or if it would be a multilateral agreement, involving the remaining 27 countries of the European Union. I assume that is an issue which the Minister's Department has examined. I know the summer economic statement looked at the economic impact of a Brexit and it is an estimate, it is a forecast, and nobody can be certain what the fallout will be. There seems to be a great deal of analysis, but are there steps we are planning to take in the very short term if it is a negative vote?

See this speech in context