Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have secured the Kenny text, that is, the text in the minutes of the guidelines setting out clearly that should there ever be a united Ireland the Six Counties can come into the European Union seamlessly. We have also reaffirmed the right of everybody born in Northern Ireland to Irish and European citizenship. Crucially, we have ensured we are not isolated. The worst position the country could be in is to be isolated and, somehow, piggy in the middle between the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Union. That would leave us very exposed at a certain point. We have ensured we have never been isolated and have been very much one of the 27. We are also forging new alliances and planning for the European Union without the United Kingdom. At the last European summit I attended the breakfast meeting of the Nordic and Baltic states, states with which we have a great deal in common. The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, also attended. He will visit Dublin quite soon. This week the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, attended the Nordic-Baltic dinner in Brussels. We are already forming new alliances and building new friendships.

In terms of the general preparations for Brexit, we have balanced the books, which is very important. We must pay down the debt, balance the books and get into surplus to prepare for any downturn if there is to be one as a consequence of Brexit. I do not believe there will be, but we must prepare for it. We paid off the IMF loans early and are setting out an ambitious capital plan in the next four and ten years to prepare for Brexit. Part of it might involve, for example, improving road infrastructure and potentially ports, depending on what happens. Today the Cabinet approved the low cost loans scheme for the agrifood industry and SMEs, companies employing fewer than 500 people. The Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation will tell Members more about it next week. There is a €5,000 grant for businesses to help them to prepare for Brexit.

The number of the Attorney General's staff in Brussels has increased from one to five and will continue to increase. That is important because after Brexit Ireland will be the only common law country in the European Union. We will have to do for ourselves much of the work that was done for us by the the United Kingdom. We have also announced that we are opening five new embassies and missions next year. When I spoke in the House about the global 2020 plan, my plan to double our footprint globally, I was told by Members opposite that it was just more spin. It is not. The five specific embassies and missions that will open next year will be in New Zealand, Mumbai, Vancouver, Bogota and Santiago de Chile. We have also increased staff and resources for Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.

That is just a brief synopsis of the enormous work the Government has done and the enormous progress already made in our preparations for Brexit.

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