Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Given the current uncertainty regarding Brexit, it is imperative that we continue to plan for all possible eventualities. Last week, after the withdrawal agreement was announced, Simon McKeever of the Irish Exporters Association said companies were increasingly looking to take action around issues like customs and stockpiling of goods. He noted:

There's huge demand for warehousing space from the pharma and food and drink sectors both here and in the UK. Companies are pre-placing items in the event of a hard Brexit

He also said:

I wouldn't describe it as a sense of panic but we're starting to see the signs of concern that we have put our eggs in the basket of a deal and mitigating against outcomes in a deal scenario. There really isn't a plan B if there isn't a deal.

I also note that in the aftermath of the recent budget the Parliamentary Budget Office said:

no sensitivity analysis has been provided by the Government on the impact of changes to the Irish output induced by a ‘hard’ Brexit on revenue and expenditure projections. In addition, conventional economic models are based on historical long-run relationships between economic variables and may not adequately capture the impacts of unprecedented shocks such as the occurrence of a ‘disorderly’ Brexit. Due to the significant uncertainty over the nature of the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU and a consideration of recent developments on negotiations, it may not be prudent to plan on the basis of an ‘orderly’ Brexit.

In light of the Taoiseach's recent comments regarding five years of planned tax cuts, I believe our over-reliance on just balancing the books over the coming years is definitely not enough to prepare for a hard Brexit. We need to be preparing for all possible scenarios.

I am equally concerned about the uptake of Brexit supports. Figures released to me and the Fianna Fáil Party show that, as of 12 October, only €8.5 million of the €300 million available under the Brexit loan scheme had been sanctioned at bank level. Only 137 Be Prepared grants have been approved by Enterprise Ireland. That equates to approximately 3% of Enterprise Ireland firms. It seems to be the case that businesses are still not as prepared as they should be.

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