Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As already mentioned, we are providing staff and resourcing in line with the central scenario and the request that has been placed on me.

We are engaging in evaluation of what could happen in a no deal scenario. The consequences of being in that place stretch beyond resourcing for all of the European Union. In that place and contingency the provisions that are open to us regarding use of existing staff and interdepartmental panels will then be used. This is why the work in relation to the evaluation and upscaling of our IT systems is so important. We will have a technology platform that will be able to deal with the different scenarios. In the event of us getting to a point where an agreement is not in place, which everybody is working to avoid, the consequences for the European Union as a whole will be exceptionally significant.

The first area of guidance in relation to this is where the European Commission is looking at different papers as to how different member states will handle a no deal scenario in different policy areas. We would have to get an indication from the Article 50 task force that we are in a no deal spectrum. To date that guidance has not been provided.

See this speech in context