Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree. The possible threat posed by and impact of Brexit across all sectors are well known and have been well documented. One could argue that at this stage the Irish Government is better prepared for Brexit than the United Kingdom Government. Even in advance of the referendum result in 2016, work was being done within government. The Joint Committee on European Affairs, of which I am a former member, produced at the time an impact report on the possible implications of Brexit. I did not see all of George Lee's documentary on RTÉ last night, but I saw the tail end of it. It was certainly an important addition to the reflections on the possible impact of Brexit. I intend to look at it again on the RTÉ Player. We have done detailed work in preparation for Brexit and all possible scenarios, including the Action Plan for Jobs 2017 and the trade and investment strategy. There are a number of dedicated measures within budget 2018 which include the €300 million Brexit loan scheme for business, increased funding for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, a €25 million Brexit response loan scheme for the agrifood sector, additional supports for capital investment in the food industry and Bord Bia marketing and promotion activities amounting to over €50 million in total.

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