Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In 2016 the then Taoiseach stated that a staffing audit was being carried out in the Department of the Taoiseach. This was in response to questions from me about how the Department was going to undertake a range of challenges, including dealing with Brexit, the ongoing instability in the Northern institutions and the capital plan, which was due to go before a Cabinet committee at that time. The current structures of the Department were put in place before the audit, with the exception of the new marketing unit which was the Taoiseach's idea, although apparently he has no idea what it does for him or for his party. Apparently there are Chinese walls between the two, as we saw at the weekend.

The Taoiseach accepted last week that Michel Barnier, Commissioner Hogan and others are right when they say that the current state of Brexit negotiations is potentially not good news for Ireland. The Taoiseach appears now to accept what we have been saying for nearly a year and a half, which is that a deal specific to Ireland is likely to be the only way to protect the interests of all parts of this island. The issue is now whether there are enough staff with the requisite expertise working on developing proposals for some form of Ireland-specific deal.

I know the Taoiseach wants the British to stay in the Single Market and the customs union but that is not happening. Every speech from every senior Tory Minister indicates that they want to be outside the customs union and the Single Market. Will the Taoiseach say whether he is confident that he has enough staff working on alternative proposals? Has he invited any expert submissions on this issue? Does the Taoiseach have any intention of holding substantive consultations on these alternatives? It is very worrying, for example, that so many small and medium enterprises have made no preparations for Brexit at all. That was the quite stunning outcome of a recent survey. I have met representatives of companies that have 60% of their market in Britain. They are not going to be able to turn that market share around quickly by diversifying. There is a real problem down the road with the type of Brexit that the British want. It will be a problem for Irish indigenous industry along the west coast and outside the Dublin region in particular.

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