Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It has been clear in the past week, even before the beginning of the Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, that attitudes on both sides are hardening. This is increasing the likelihood of a hard Brexit, an outcome we certainly do not want in Ireland. The posturing on both sides, including the selective leaking of what happened during the dinner between Prime Minister May and Jean-Claude Juncker, is serving to increase tension and make the impending negotiations even more difficult than they will be. This hardening nationalistic approach has provoked a major British supermarket chain, the Co-op, to announce that it will not stock any beef other than British beef on its shelves. While the Co-op does not stock Irish beef, it is clear that if other supermarkets in the United Kingdom follow suit, there will be clear consequences for the Irish beef sector. I expect the Ministers for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Agriculture, Food and the Marine to raise these issues to ensure it will not become a trend. In the forthcoming negotiations Ireland needs to be an advocate for a calm, measured and firm approach.

The Tánaiste will be aware of a survey published by Chartered Accountants Ireland earlier today. It deals with the levels of awareness and preparedness of Irish businesses for the customs issues that will inevitably arise if the United Kingdom leaves the customs union, which seems a near certainty. The striking results of the survey should serve as a wake-up call for the Government which needs to realise it must do more to help businesses to prepare for the fall-out from Brexit if the United Kingdom leaves the customs union. The survey has found that there is a startling lack of practical customs knowledge and a lack of understanding of the issues that will arise if the United Kingdom leaves the customs union. Customs duty is primarily a self-assessment tax. Businesses have not had to deal with this issue for almost 25 years because of the Single European Market. There seems to be a distinct lack of corporate knowledge on the island of Ireland of how the customs system will work. The crucial point is that even in a soft Brexit scenario in which no trade tariffs would apply, significant onerous obligations would be placed on Irish businesses to comply with new customs arrangements. It is clear that we need to secure a funding mechanism at EU level to help Irish small and medium-sized enterprises to deal with the cash flow implications of compliance with new customs and VAT arrangements. We need a programme of education and resourcing in order that firms can deal with the significant extra cost and compliance burden that will arise. As part of the negotiations, we must secure agreement on the protection of the common transit area, which is key if Ireland is to be able to export to mainland Europe via the United Kingdom. What are the practical steps the Government is taking to help business to become more prepared for the serious and inevitable consequences of Brexit, regardless of the form it will take?

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