Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Michael McGrath for his comments. We had a very good meeting with the leaders of the different parties yesterday in respect of Brexit and a number of other matters. The Deputy will have been briefed by the Minister for Finance in respect of the general situation as we approach this budget. The issues raised by the Deputy are real, important and very urgent. Clearly, the question of Brexit will not become the central focus from a European point of view until the British Prime Minister triggers Article 50 at the end of March. At least, we have clarity on that now.

In the meantime, the Government outlined at some length yesterday a series of agendas to deal with the issues arising. The Deputy mentioned a number of them. Obviously, the VAT rate was reduced from 13.5% to 9% a number of years ago to stabilise an industry that was in seriously bad shape. That industry has recovered and has been a catalyst in creating thousands of jobs. That decision was followed by the decision to remove the travel tax which had a further impact in terms of the numbers of people being brought to Ireland by the different air carriers. That is an issue the Government will consider in the context of the budget. The Minister referred to the question of capital gains tax for entrepreneurs. He introduced the first initiative relating to that from an Irish point of view last year. We did not have the resources to match what was done in Great Britain but the Minister is conscious of that.

This morning, I opened the Irish Exporters Association conference in the RDS to which Enterprise Ireland has brought back all its overseas staff to talk to hundreds of entrepreneurs and SMEs in Ireland about diversification into new markets in the US, Canada, the EU and so on. The Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Act was introduced in February 2016. I can confirm to the Deputy that the Department of Finance, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland are looking at the options that might be open in terms of financial supports or access to credit for businesses that are suffering because of the decline in the strength of sterling. I will read the report mentioned by the Deputy. All these matters are very important in the context of employment growing, unemployment dropping, a steady growth rate here and a very bright opportunity for many Irish firms to continue to expand. This is a matter of urgency and I hope the budget will have a number of what we might call "Brexit-proofing" measures in respect of the issues raised by the Deputy.

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