Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The answer to the last question is a very clear "No". In response to the Deputy's question on EU financial support packages, in November 2017 the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation received approval from the European Commission for its proposed rescue and restructuring scheme, should it be necessary. That scheme can intervene in an extraordinary way and contribute up to €10 million of public money to help a company to restructure because of difficulties arising as a result of Brexit, in the context of no deal.

There is also the possibility of an extension of the scheme to include temporary restructuring aid, which was approved in May 2018. They are two specific examples.

On agriculture, as the Deputy may know, on occasions when there have been shocks to the agricultural markets across the European Union, the European Commission has been able to intervene with schemes such as aids to private storage when Russia imposed bans on pig meat coming from the EU. It also intervened to purchase milk powders when milk prices tanked and has only recently cleared most of the stocks they had in storage. There are intervention mechanisms, therefore, but they will kick in only after a crisis happens. Our job is to ensure we avoid that type of crisis and that even in a no-deal scenario, we will work to continue future trade between Ireland and the UK as we look for more medium-term sustainable solutions that are free of tariffs or barriers.

On infrastructure, I thought we had given the Deputy a detailed briefing on the topic when we met yesterday but I am happy to do so again, although I do not want to run out of time on the Deputy Ross issue in case I am accused of avoiding it. I will provide a written outline of what we are doing at Rosslare and Dublin ports and why planning permission is not needed before Brexit. On the issue relating to Deputy Ross, I was clarifying to him that the Government will not stop talking-----

See this speech in context