Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would have thought that the Taoiseach might have heard from more business people about their concern regarding the impact Brexit will have on them. Recent data from the Central Statistics Office suggest there is a noticeable slowdown in the Border region and that the devaluation of sterling has had a significant impact on small and medium enterprises, SMEs, there. There are many Brexit schemes but the combined take-up of these to date has been minuscule. Is the Taoiseach willing to set a specific target for the number of businesses receiving support in order that they might cope with the impact of Brexit? To date, all there has been is the announcement of amounts of money to be spent at some point in the future. Until we see specific targets for businesses directly helped, the delivery deficit is likely to be continually hidden behind the advertising campaigns which promise a lot but deliver little.

Last week, the Taoiseach became very defensive when I raised the Government's love of referring to things as "action plans". He even claimed the Government had delivered 200,000 jobs through the Action Plan for Jobs. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, reviewed the action plan and said it is not possible to isolate any specific figure of job creation under the plan. We do not need action plan for Brexit designed to help the Government claim credit for other people's work. We need hard targets for businesses directly helped through the schemes launched with such fanfare by the Minister. There needs to be a stronger correlation between the announcement and what is actually done. The vote is taking place in the House of Commons on 11 December and the draft withdrawal treaty is coming into far more focus. Most business and farming people on both sides of the Border support the withdrawal treaty. It is disappointing, therefore, that the DUP seems to be hardening its original stance on the draft withdrawal treaty following its conference at the weekend. Will the Taoiseach provide an update on the preparation of east-west arrangements for Dublin Airport following Brexit? Given that most goods entering the North come via Dublin Port, is there any further update on scoping and expansion to facilitate further checks if needed? Is the Government scoping the use of Rosslare Europort in order to ease any possible congestion and ensure the smooth transport of goods via truck, etc.?

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