Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will be extremely exposed if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal and we need evidence from Government that sufficient measures will be in place by 29 March. Simple assurances are not enough.

The haulage industry still has no clarity on the situation regarding non-Irish drivers needing to cross the land bridge. Approximately 70% of those who drive Irish trucks are eastern European and the industry needs to know what their status will be in the event of a no-deal Brexit. This will affect time-sensitive products such as those in the agrifood sector, our most exposed sector. The estimated volume of goods transported across the land bridge is over 3 million tonnes annually. These goods are transported by approximately 150,000 trucks. The reintroduction of any customs or border checks because of Brexit will increase transit times and costs and will negatively impact on our competitiveness.

Despite consistent questioning in the Dáil, in face-to-face briefings and at stakeholder meetings, we still do not know what the solution will be to the inevitable delays at Dover port. If there are delays at Dover, Irish trucks will be caught up in them and that is a simple fact. We have been told that initial conversations are taking place with France to try to facilitate Irish trucks exiting in Calais, potentially in a separate lane, but these plans have not progressed beyond the talking stage. At this point, I would have expected detailed plans, backed up by financial support from the EU. Everything is being left until quite late in the day.

Similarly, there are serious concerns regarding aviation. While UK planes will be able to fly in and out of the EU, they will not be able to fly between member states. Even this arrangement will only last for 12 months. What will happen thereafter? In terms of business supports, the take-up has been quite low. It is concerning that of the €300 million available through the Brexit loan scheme, only €13.44 million has been drawn down to date. Furthermore, only 3% of Enterprise Ireland, EI, firms have availed of the EI support grant and AIB estimated in the third quarter of last year that only 5% of SMEs had a Brexit plan in place.

In the context of the EU support package we may need following Brexit, it is my understanding that the Government has not even asked the EU for support. We have no idea, to put it bluntly, what, if any, money will be available to us in the event of a no-deal Brexit. I find this remarkable and an explanation must be provided to this House as to why this has not yet been done. We will need financial support even in the event of a soft, orderly Brexit and clearly if there is a crash-out, no-deal Brexit, we will need funds immediately for infrastructure and to assist Irish industry, particularly export businesses, our farmers and those in the agrifood sector. We cannot wait for a crash out to happen before we seek help. We need to know what support package is in place now as a precautionary measure, in case we need it.

I am quite concerned that only 200 of the 600 customs staff who are due to be hired will be in place by the end of March. The Tánaiste has stated that hiring can be ramped up but, with respect, we need more detail than that. Only 58 veterinary officials have been hired, which seems like a very low number by any measure. Can the Tánaiste confirm that these numbers will be sufficient? The Government has been sluggish in its approach to planning for Brexit and that must change now. We need to see an immediate intensification of contingency planning.

We are unsure of the Government's plan regarding medicines, particularly those that have a narrow therapeutic index and those that are not interchangeable with generic or biosimilar drugs. Has the Government started to put in place sufficient measures to ensure a continuity of supply in all Brexit scenarios? This is a reasonable question that is being asked by patients. I have asked for the date on which the new traffic management plan for Dublin Port will be put in place but am still awaiting a reply. Parliamentary questions to the Tánaiste's office and to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport remain unanswered. When it comes to details of infrastructure at our ports and airports, information is vague and often conflicting. Again, I cannot get a reply to a simple parliamentary question as to whether planning permission is needed and what exactly will be in place at the end of March.

In the short time left, I will refer to a very important issue, namely, the way in which the Tánaiste and the Government has treated this House in respect of Brexit. I take issue with the way in which members of the Opposition have been treated. The Government has consistently asked Opposition parties to pull on the green jersey. It asks us for our support when we put it under pressure by asking legitimate, albeit difficult, questions. It is worth reminding the Government that the role of the Opposition is to ask questions and that wearing the green jersey goes in both directions. One can say what one likes about Theresa May and the chaos at Westminster, but she at least takes questions regularly and all MPs in the British Parliament have been given the opportunity to express their views. By contrast, this Dáil seems to play second fiddle to the media at all times. I say this because getting information has, at times, been like pulling teeth. We are being drip fed information all of the time, very often getting key information from the press.

On 19 December, the Government published its contingency action plan, ten minutes before the House rose for the Christmas recess. I know for a fact that members of the media were provided with that plan before the Opposition. That is wrong and it is accepted by all Members that the House should be informed before the media. It is now 17 January and this is the first opportunity Members have been given to discuss the contingency action plan that was published on 19 December. I wrote to the Business Committee before Christmas to ask for this debate and I specifically asked for a question-and-answer session. Instead, we have statements, with only five minutes at the end for questions. That is wholly inadequate. There should be more of an opportunity for Deputies to ask legitimate questions of the Government.

On Tuesday last, the Cabinet met to discuss contingency plans across four key areas, namely, transport, medicines, welfare and professions. However, no details of what was discussed have been published. I was promised a briefing note but am still waiting for it. Why have we waited until today to have this conversation? Why did we not have this debate on Tuesday or Wednesday? Why did the Taoiseach not come before the House on Tuesday to update us on what was discussed at Cabinet? The Government needs to trust our citizens more and to provide evidence of preparation and planning. It also needs to be honest with Members of this House as to what has actually been done. It should not be such a battle for us to get basic information. We have lots of meetings, granted, although we do not get much out of them. That said, the stakeholder meetings have been valuable. It has been really useful to interact with stakeholders such as Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the trade unions, Bord Bia, Dublin Port and so on. However, the information that we get at those meetings can be read in The Irish Times on the previous day. I have raised this with the Tánaiste privately but it is important to put on record how we feel about the way this House is being treated in terms of debating time and the opportunity to ask questions. I take serious issue with the media getting advance notice of key Brexit issues before we get it.

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