Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Of course, preparedness cannot mitigate all of the massive disturbances that Brexit will bring but that is no excuse for not being fully prepared. Unfortunately, it seems that although the national message has been that we must prepare for the worst but hope for the best, the approach of the Government over the past two years has been to spend far more time hoping for the best than preparing for what might happen in six weeks' time. There has been minimal engagement by the Government with the agrifood sector in terms of giving any clarity on what to expect in six weeks' time in the event of a hard Brexit. That has simply been absent from the Government's preparations on this issue.

Last September, following a Cabinet meeting in County Kerry, the Minister and the Taoiseach announced that 300 sanitary and phytosanitary inspectors would be employed in order to be prepared for Brexit. That was later downgraded by the Minister to 116. As of today, we do not know how many will be in place by the end of March. That is another reflection of the fact that we are not particularly prepared for Brexit. Over the coming days, we need absolute clarity on what the agrifood sector is facing and how it will operate in terms of revenue and standards after 29 March in the case of a hard Brexit. We also need a clear plan on how we will respond in terms of market supports and maintaining our trade to the UK market in the event of a hard Brexit.

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