Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take questions Nos. 6 to 9, inclusive, together.

My Department works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has overall responsibility for Brexit. Within my Department, staff across several divisions contribute to the work on Brexit, including the international, European Union and Northern Ireland division and the economic division. To augment this ongoing work, my Department established a small unit to work on Brexit preparedness and contingency planning. This unit assists a Secretaries General group which oversees ongoing work on national Brexit preparedness and contingency planning. The unit also focuses on cross-Government co-ordination, planning and programme management.

Managing a no-deal Brexit would be an exercise in damage limitation. It would be impossible to maintain the current seamless arrangements between the EU and the United Kingdom or to put in place arrangements equivalent to those provided for in the withdrawal agreement. We are firmly of the view that the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal is to ratify the withdrawal agreement. However, given the ongoing uncertainty in the UK and the proximity of the date of Brexit, the Government is continuing to take concrete steps in preparation for a no-deal scenario. Our contingency plans are now being implemented.

Preparation and planning for a range of Brexit scenarios has been ongoing since well in advance of the UK referendum in 2016. A comprehensive set of Government structures is in place to ensure that all Departments and their agencies are engaged in detailed preparedness and contingency activities. On 19 December last, the Government’s contingency action plan setting out its approach to dealing with a no-deal Brexit was published. The plan includes analysis under important headings, including economic and fiscal impact, security and Northern Ireland and North-South relations. It provides detailed sectoral analyses and approaches to mitigating the impacts of a no-deal Brexit.

On 24 January, the Government published a draft omnibus Brexit Bill as the next in a series of actions to prepare for a no-deal Brexit. It comprises vital legislation needed by 27 March and focuses on protecting our citizens and assisting the economy, enterprise and jobs. On 30 January, an update to the contingency action plan was published, setting out how preparations for a no-deal scenario have intensified since 19 December. This includes key decisions by Cabinet to advance our Brexit-related legislation, and Cabinet review of several important areas such as transport connectivity, including ongoing preparations at ports and airports; supply of medicines; agrifood and fisheries; the common travel area; and impacts on the Irish economy. There were further updates on supports for Irish businesses and the Government’s public information campaign, "Getting Ireland Brexit Ready".

Our preparedness and contingency planning takes full account of and complements the steps under way at EU level to prepare for the UK’s withdrawal, notably as regards the implementation of the European Commission’s contingency action plan. Irish officials discussed contingency planning issues with a delegation of Commission officials who visited Dublin and the Border area on 4 and 5 February as part of a series of engagements with all EU member states.

We were the ninth country to be visited in such a way.

At my meeting with President Juncker in Brussels last week, we agreed that while we will continue to seek agreement on the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom, we will also further intensify our preparations for a no-deal scenario given the ongoing uncertainty.

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