Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle giving us the opportunity to raise this very important issue and the Minister of State being present. A great deal of the uncertainty and concern about Brexit we encounter in the Border region stems directly from the huge uncertainty we see in Westminster, an uncertainty reported nightly on UTV and BBC Northern Ireland news programmes, which are widely watched in our area, and on broadcast media here. The media are merely reporting the news and there is no shortage of Tory and DUP MPs ready and willing to stoke up uncertainty. It appears that such is the depth and extent of the impasse in the House of Commons that no one knows what arrangements can be made or what deal can be passed through Parliament.

Most commentators expect the agreement reached between the European Union and the Prime Minister, Mrs. May, to be defeated. A no-deal Brexit would have immense adverse implications for all of the island. The House cannot ease any of this uncertainty now but the Government must ensure my community and other communities along the Border are reassured that we will be ready and resourced to ease the damage that Brexit could unleash on our region. I fully support the proposal from some of the cross-Border bodies and agencies, such as the Irish Central Border Area Network representing local authorities in Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim, Fermanagh and Tyrone, the region in the north west comprising Donegal and Derry and the east Border region encompassing the constituencies of Deputy Breathnach and the Minister of State.

There is an urgent need for the Government to institute and put in place a specific programme of assistance to try to protect and grow the economy in the Border region, which will be adversely affected by Brexit. There is great knowledge and ability in the local authorities working on a cross-Border basis through the agencies to ensure that public funding will be put to good use. A bottom-up approach, as my colleague, Deputy Breathnach, said, would be the right approach, with a new stream of funding being made available to try to counteract the effects Brexit will have. The Minister of State has heard me say in the House and at committee meetings that our local economy in Cavan and Monaghan is heavily dependent on the sectors that will be most adversely impacted by Brexit. There will be a double whammy to our economy at a local level.

See this speech in context