Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact the Tánaiste and various Government agencies will be coming to County Monaghan and the Border region. I hope that business people take the opportunity to engage with the roadshow, particularly as there has been a very low take up of the small grant that is available to businesses for Brexit proofing. That is something that we need to promote further.

The Conservative Party conference this week saw the British Prime Minister double down on her Chequers proposals. The Taoiseach is meeting the European Commission today in Brussels to discuss the Brexit talks. As the Tánaiste knows, a hard Brexit would have a profoundly negative effect on the Border region, including counties Cavan and Monaghan. Indeed, we have seen the disastrous impact of the Brexit vote on business and industry in the region already. The mushroom industry has been blown out of the water and many agrifood businesses are dealing with huge uncertainty. We are seeing a huge loss of confidence in a region that has a high number of indigenous businesses. I ask that the Government engages in positive discrimination and focuses on the Border counties that are at the coal face.

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