Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, along with the Minister and other Members of the House, attended the all-Ireland civic dialogue on Brexit that was held recently. The Minister will also be aware that the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has met 15 groups across five sessions over three meetings. The people who attended those Oireachtas committee meetings were the same as those who attended at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, namely, delegates from Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, cross-Border bodies, ICTU and business representative groups, and they are all saying the same thing. They point to the uncertainty and to the need for market diversification to try to safeguard against the impact of many businesses moving to a sterling cost based area in the new year. With that in mind, did the Department consider the establishment of an export fund to support companies selling into the UK that are seeking to diversify?

The additional staffing complement being afforded to Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland has previously been mentioned in this House, but I am told that this has not yet made its way through the system of officialdom. The organisations do not know what headcount they will have. Will the Minister shed some light on the situation?

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