Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his comprehensive reply. During yesterday's questions, he was prepared to indicate he has no idea how many businesses will be Brexit-ready on 29 March, next month. Given the scale of the threat posed by Brexit, most people were working under the assumption that the Taoiseach would at least have monthly monitoring of readiness and a list of companies, or at least all companies over a certain size, that will be asked by the Government or State agencies to report regularly.

Equally, it would have been expected that the Taoiseach would be receiving weekly responses from State agencies on the uptake of funding schemes. It is quite striking that there is still money being spent on promoting a "start to plan for Brexit grant". With six weeks to go, should the Taoiseach not be somewhat worried that it is a bit late to be starting to plan? It is now 13 months since the Government published its last survey on SMEs' preparedness. Why has there been such a delay in publishing another one? I have never claimed one can ensure every company is prepared but it is absolutely reasonable to expect that we and the Government will know how many are prepared. Yesterday, Allied Irish Banks suggested up to 50% of SMEs are not prepared for Brexit. What percentage of businesses that need to prepare for Brexit will be prepared by 29 March? What are the Government and its agencies saying about that?

I was briefed by the Taoiseach's staff last week to the effect that the Government impressed the Commission's team when it reviewed no-deal preparations. Does the Taoiseach intend to publish the specific data he provided to them with regarding the number of staff who will be in place by 29 March? How many of the extra staff announced last year will be trained and in place by 29 March across the various agencies?

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