Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It will not be a surprise to anybody to hear the Government has put a huge priority on managing and navigating our way through what will be a difficult period as we build up to Article 50 being triggered and then the consequences of that afterwards. As the Deputy has pointed out, we have had an all-island civil dialogue already. We have had a North-South Ministerial Council that focused specifically on the issue. The Taoiseach, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other Ministers are working towards getting a common agreed approach on the island of Ireland towards the outcome that we are looking for, across parties in Northern Ireland and across parties in the Republic.

I know more than most the reliance the Irish agrifood industry has on the British market. We are talking about a €7 billion trade relationship each year. Approximately half of our beef exports and 43% of agrifood exports go to the UK so I certainly do not need reminding of that and neither does the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed. That is why we have a special unit within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has already been set up for quite some time now. It has had multiple meetings with its counterparts in Northern Ireland to look at ways in which we can insulate and protect this country from currency changes and the potential consequences of a fallout from Brexit.

Let me make two things very clear. First, Ireland will not allow itself be forced to take sides, either on the British side or on the EU side, because we cannot afford to do either. Ireland needs to remain close with the UK in terms of our political and trade relationships and we will do so. We also need to be a proactive, strong and positive member of the European Union in the context of trying to manage the fallout from Brexit. Second, we will prioritise looking after Irish interests, whether they be Irish citizens in the UK or in Ireland or further afield. We have taken multiple actions to date in order to do that. No country in the European Union is even close to Ireland in terms of the level of priority and preparedness that we already have in place for the negotiations that are on the way.

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