Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I feel the civic forum went well. The participation of stakeholders in business and farming and the raising of workers' issues, trade unions and so on was quite effective. However, if it is to be a true dialogue, it must continue and we must get down to specifics with the various sectors that are represented. The potential impact on the academic and research communities is, for example, a very real issue, as is the concern around North-South interactions and the all-island economy.

We have heard various fears expressed by different sectors, but I am not clear on what the Government's response will be. It is interesting to note that the more one looks at the budget, the more one sees that it failed to make any adequate provision of substance for Brexit. When one reads last month's publications from the Department of Finance on the sectors that are exposed to Brexit and yesterday's report from the Department and the ESRI, one sees that even in the context of a so-called soft Brexit, there will be down side repercussions for Irish economic growth, GDP and employment unless action is taken. We need to move into the space of putting it to our European colleagues that direct aid will be needed for some industries. The reports from the Department of Finance indicate that traditional manufacturing will be under threat, the regions outside of Dublin will be badly hit and the Border regions will be hit hardest by a hard Brexit or even a soft Brexit. The Department identifies particular sectors that are at risk including farming, agrifood, traditional manufacturing, tourism and others. The thinking cap should have been on with regard to what will be required in the next year or so and then in the aftermath of Brexit actually happening. Are scenarios being prepared in terms of the supports that the Government may have to provide to transition certain SMEs out of trouble, that is, those which are heavily reliant on the British market to sell their produce? The same question applies in quite a number of other areas, including our VAT rate, for example.

We must accept the urgency of this because it is very serious. Brexit fundamentally alters the economic model that we have been operating since the 1970s. The model we have been working under for the last 45 to 50 years will be turned upside down by the decision of the British to leave the European Union unless Britain magically gets a Norway-type deal, with full access to the Single Market, without tariffs. We would love to see such a deal, but we are not getting any sense of that happening right now; therefore, we need to prepare for the negative scenarios. One can add into the mix the negative figures on income tax and the fact that retail sales are beginning to flatten out.

Manufacturing output in general is down again this month. I accept that these are monthly figures but if you put it all together, there are significant challenges ahead. Will the Taoiseach indicate whether he has approached the European Commission and pointed out these realities and the fact that intervention will be required? Has he outlined or published his negotiating goals or principles in advance of any of this? It is important that this would happen. I would argue that maybe the time has come for us to have a meaningful discussion in this House about the measures we will be looking for to mitigate the impact of what has been a disastrous decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. It is time to talk substance. There is a degree of superficiality in terms of the debate.

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