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

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. The ongoing chaos in Westminster is a reminder to us all that the default position under UK law is that Britain will leave the EU in 115 days' time. The withdrawal agreement may somehow be passed, there may be an extension of the Article 50 process or there may even be a new referendum, but the default position is that unless a majority can be constructed for an alternative, Brexit will happen on 29 March 2019. The cost of this to Ireland would be a minimum of €5 billion. According to an analysis by Copenhagen Economics, this could rise to €10 billion in the event of a collapse in sterling caused by the UK crashing out of the EU. In light of the scale of this issue, is it really a mark of successful preparations that basic information seminars are still being conducted less than four months before the most critical deadline? Would it be possible for the Taoiseach to put aside for a moment his spin about the number of people looking for information or about the potential funding? He needs to look at the bigger picture. According to data produced by the Government, most of the firms that are threatened by Brexit will not be ready for Brexit in March. They have few contingencies in place for disrupted supply lines, are badly exposed on sterling and have little of the required expertise available to them. If the majority of critical firms are not ready, or are exposed to threats without a means of tackling them, how can the Taoiseach say he is happy with the pace of preparations? If he disagrees with this interpretation, will he indicate what percentage of firms would need to have Brexit plans and contingencies in place and to have implemented them for him to be happy that Ireland is ready for Brexit? I am not asking him how many helpline calls we should log but what percentage of firms he believes should be ready on 29 March 2019.

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