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

Although we were told that the budget would be Brexit-proofed, this has not proven to be the case. During recent weeks and months, I have to spoken to business owners in my region. It is not like when the Taoiseach tells the story of the man he met the night before who was having a pint. I spoke with the owners of real businesses who are creating real jobs: one had created 100 jobs, another 170, and another 500. Every one of them is dependent on exports and they have a real fear about the outcome of Brexit. Our region has already suffered job losses during recent months and we do not want any more. The Minister talked about the 50 staff recruited for IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. Most of these were recruited before Brexit happened. The Minister talked about the retention of the 9% VAT. It has been in place for many years. I acknowledge that it was the Minister's Government that put it in place and it was a welcome boost to the industry at the time. Everybody who works in the tourism industry has real concerns about Brexit here and now. I will reiterate the question I asked at the beginning and perhaps the Minister will answer it this time. Will the Government make a fund available to help Irish companies that are dependent on exports and vulnerable to currency fluctuations work through the uncertainties of the next two years so that, hopefully, they will be able to ride out these uncertainties and be in a stronger position after the two years' deliberations?

See this speech in context