Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment is on the back of this horse because we want to see broadband brought to rural Ireland once and for all, and by that I mean small town Ireland and everything else.

We have had discussions about Brexit and will have more, but one piece of the jigsaw is not clear yet. We have provided the European Council with a document containing all our priorities, but the Deputy knows we cannot investigate the detail of this until we get to a point where the first phase is dealt with, namely, the principles, modalities and the liabilities that apply. The second issue is the question of borders, with our Border being a case in point that every other country in Europe now understands. The third issue is the rights and reciprocal rights of Europeans living in the UK and vice versa. We have our own issue with the common travel area that has existed since 1922.

We will then move on to the future structure and framework of the UK with the EU. Central to that, as the Deputy is well aware, is the question of trade and how that will apply. We must figure out how we can have the closest possible relationship between Europe and the UK, and we will be on the European side here, given that the Single Market will be gone and we still do not know the British Government's view on tariffs or the customs union. That is where the problem and challenge will arise. We share the Deputy's view on this. The Government has set up a specific unit in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to deal with the question of agrifood and drink exports to Great Britain, hedging forward and support for small and medium enterprises. We are well aware of the drop of €500 million in real value terms over six months because of currency fluctuations, so the Government is very interested in this. We have 100 trade missions abroad this year to increase sales of our products in other countries. I have just come back from Canada where I spoke about elements of that.

The Deputy mentioned the equine industry. It is a case in point and he is perfectly right. Those who train horses to that level do not want to have delays and to be weighed down by an inordinate amount of bureaucracy. Clearly, in respect of stud farms North and South, our relationship with the British racing industry is very close. English horses race here and win sometimes while Irish horses race in England and win more often. That industry has the potential to deliver €2 billion to the Exchequer every year. It is and will continue to be strongly supported by the Government. These are issues we must take into account in real detail when those negotiations begin.

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