Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are all aware that the Brexit result sent shockwaves across Europe. It has very serious ramifications for the future of the EU and our island. We all agree that hard borders should not be re-introduced between North and South and that the common travel area should remain. There have been positive soundings about these but there have been mixed messages about how this special relationship between Ireland and the UK will be handled. It is most unfortunate that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was excluded from a recent Cabinet committee on Brexit set up in London. What the Tory Government does is outside our control but if the way it treats Northern Ireland is an indication of how it will treat the Republic of Ireland under special treatment, it does not give much cause for hope.

I want to focus on what the Irish Government needs to do because this is having a detrimental effect on businesses. It will have a detrimental effect in the medium and long term on businesses across this island. Preparations should be started to allow companies to be shielded and to give them comfort during what will be a very uncertain two year-period while negotiations take place. Companies that are reliant on exports need to be given the necessary supports to give them the confidence to ride out the storm of this uncertainty over the next two years. Through no fault of their own, good businesses that have been built up over the past number of decades are facing hugely uncertain times. While there have been many soundings about being prepared, very little action has been taken to show that we are actually prepared.

We have already seen the impact of the dramatic drop in sterling on businesses here. Some companies have already closed while others are at the edge of the cliff working at a loss and hoping that sterling will rise again. I spoke to a business in my region in the prepared consumer food sector that is working on a net margin of between 4% to 5%. It is now suffering a loss of between 20% and 25%. That is not sustainable. We know that the small and medium-sized sector employs over 780,000 people, particularly in rural Ireland, and is the backbone of employment in the regions. IBEC has called for a currency crisis fund to be set up but it appears its request has fallen on deaf ears. A total of 42% of our tourism market comes from the UK and the impact of the fall in sterling will reduce this dramatically.

Some predict it will be reduced by as much as 10%. Last week's budget underscored the seriousness of Brexit and the threat it poses to Ireland. It was just tokenism against the greatest threat that has faced the Irish economy for many decades. I am worried about the businesses that depend on exports. Will the Minister confirm that the Government will make a fund available to help shield Irish companies from Brexit and assist them in working through the uncertainties over the next two years until we all, eventually, know what will be the real outcome of Brexit?

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