Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Does the Taoiseach agree that Brexit is the biggest challenge to face Ireland since the collapse of the banks and the collapse of employment in the country? If he agrees, does he also see that we need to intensify and deepen our preparations? Some weeks ago the Taoiseach, here in the Dáil Chamber, told me with some excitement in his voice that a senior member would be appointed to the cabinet of Michel Barnier, one of the key negotiators dealing with Brexit. I have been quite surprised not to have seen any mention of who is the senior appointee. I presume the person will be one of several people at cabinet level in the Commission, a former senior official of the Commission or a senior diplomat. Does the Taoiseach appreciate that, notwithstanding that all of the senior people in Brussels understand that Ireland is very much an independent and separate country, nonetheless, psychologically and culturally, they see us as being tied into the UK? In fact, many of them have difficulty understanding exactly how complex and difficult the Brexit situation is for us with the multiple dimensions of its impact on the Republic, particularly the issue of sterling. I read in the paper yesterday about somebody having a wedding in Donegal and already the cost of the wedding has risen from €20,000 to €23,000 owing to the fall in sterling.

In respect of Northern Ireland and the civic forum, has the Government determined that it will argue for the North to be a special case? We hear a lot of conversation about the North but we are not seeing any roadmap of how the Government proposes to deal with the North, particularly in the context of Mrs May advocating on some days a hard Brexit and on other days, in respect of passporting financial services, indicating that she is open to a soft Brexit for the City of London as a region. These are critical issues on which we need to hear the Government’s view. Where is this member of Mr. Barnier’s team and who is that person? Mr. Verhofstadt has a very senior position as well. Are we going to have a senior Irish person? While I know this is fraught with difficulties, there should also be a senior person from the North of Ireland and from Scotland but that is the matter for the Scottish executive. In terms of the island of Ireland, we need the maximum input in order to allay the greatest threat to the Irish economy since the collapse of the banks and of the construction industry in 2007 and 2008.

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