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

I have responsibility for co-ordinating the whole-of-Government response to Brexit. In this capacity, I continue to work closely with colleagues across the Government to address many of the challenges resulting from Brexit, some of which the Deputy has accurately referred to. Detailed sectoral work is being done by individual Departments and through cross-departmental co-ordination structures chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. These structures represent an active channel through which all relevant Departments are providing research, analysis and overall policy input to the Government's overall response to Brexit, including its priorities for the next phase of the Article 50 negotiations. I hope those negotiations will provide some clarity over the coming months. As part of the planning and preparation being undertaken through these structures, there is an important focus on deepening the Government's analysis and understanding of the exact consequences of a range of different possible scenarios, including a scenario in which no withdrawal agreement is concluded.

Engagement with stakeholders is an important pillar of the Government's overall response to Brexit. Within the framework of the all-island civic dialogue on Brexit, three plenary meetings and 20 sectoral meetings have taken place in locations across the country. The Brexit stakeholder forum, which has a more limited membership, has met four times since its establishment in September, most recently last Friday in the wake of the publication of the Commission-UK joint progress report. The Government is actively responding to the domestic implications of Brexit. In addition to our overall budgetary and capital spending policies, significant measures amounting to over €50 million were announced in budget 2018, including a new €300 million Brexit loan scheme for businesses, a €25 million Brexit response loan scheme for the agrifood sector and additional supports for the food industry.

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The increased funding for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the State agencies involved in export promotion will allow for the opening of six new diplomatic missions.

The support of our EU partners and the EU institutions has been a key factor in securing the positive outcomes achieved to date, including the agreement reached last week. The Government will continue its intensive engagement, particularly with member states which share our concerns. We will aim for a withdrawal agreement based on the commitments set out in the Commission-EU progress report, an ambitious framework for the future EU-UK relationship and transitional arrangements which will give time for the detail of that relationship to be negotiated and for businesses and citizens to prepare.

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