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

No doubt the Taoiseach is aware of the British Prime Minister's speech this morning on the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. By any yardstick or assessment it constitutes an agenda for a very hard Brexit and very difficult negotiations ahead. Essentially Britain will be out of the Single Market and out of the customs union as we know it. No matter what gloss one puts on this, it can mean tariffs on goods and services between Britain and Ireland and between Britain and the European Union. The Prime Minister was very clear also it will be British courts that will adjudicate on all issues of British law and the European Court of Justice will have no remit. This clearly has implications for any successful trade agreement the Prime Minister is anxious to have and the ongoing relationship between the UK and the EU.

This changes the nature of our response to Brexit because it will have to change. Despite the reference to the common travel area between Ireland and Great Britain there was not much in the speech on the Irish perspective or the future of Ireland's relationship with the United Kingdom. From this perspective it is somewhat disappointing. There was no mention of any special status for Northern Ireland, for example. It went in the opposite direction. There was huge emphasis on strengthening the British union, notwithstanding the fact the largest majority of EU citizens residing in any state outside of the European Union will be in Northern Ireland. This is a key issue which must be a core part of the negotiations on the British exit from the European Union.

We know from Bord Bia's report that €600 million has already been lost by Irish agribusiness because of the fall in sterling. Enterprise Ireland has figures that in the context of a hard Brexit up to 25,000 jobs could be at risk. We know from the analysis by the Department of Finance with the ESRI that a significant drop in national income over a sustained period, loss of employment and loss of wages could follow a hard Brexit from the EU. I note the response from the Taoiseach's Department to the extent it identified the key issues but one issue was missing. Has the Taoiseach put on the table with his European colleagues the need for Ireland to make it very clear we want to retain some capacity for state aids for Irish-owned industry and the indigenous sector, particularly in the agribusiness and agrifood area?

There is no question but that the agribusiness food area will be at risk. We will need transitional state aid capacity to enable companies to survive the threat of Brexit by diversifying and so that they withstand the undoubted dislocation that exiting the Single Market and the customs union will have on trade between indigenous Irish companies and Britain. Have we put that on the table? Are we arguing cogently for it?

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