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

First, I expect recruitment to continue across the period. As the Deputy mentioned, the key point is that it is based on a central case scenario of a Brexit transitional period being in place. That appears to be possible, but there is more work to be done. In addition, regardless of the eventual Brexit scenario, the United Kingdom is becoming a third country from a customs policy perspective. Therefore, the commitment we have regarding the 600 staff will have to be fulfilled. We have made progress on it, even since the last time the Deputy questioned me. On whether recruitment will continue, it will, albeit in a different way. Now that we have received 3,000 applications and built panels of civil servants from other Departments who may wish to work in this area, I expect us to move to the selection and training phase.

Regarding the work of the Central Bank, it has been actively engaged with financial services companies on how they can maintain access to and from the United Kingdom. From my engagement with these companies, it is clear that they have been working on this scenario for quite some time. An increasing number of them have established a presence in both the United Kingdom and Ireland to allow them to continue to operate in the Single Market, while also servicing their businesses in the United Kingdom.

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