Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Other Deputies have raised issues that are very important. I am deeply concerned there will be a lot of quickly moving parts in a very short period of time, and that we might be blindsided by some of the decisions that are happening. On the domestic front, it was announced a year ago as a key Brexit support measure that there would be a €300 million Brexit loan fund. It was announced during the summer that, of the 5,000 companies the Government had announced would benefit from it, only ten companies had done so, and of the €300 million that was going to be made available, less than €2.5 million had actually been allocated. Is the Taoiseach happy with that position? What is the up-to-date position and has there been a dramatic change since June? We need to prepare. While I am very happy to be part of the Brexit group that meets periodically with the Tánaiste, these are the practical things that should be happening in parallel to the negotiations.

See this speech in context