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

I thank the Deputy for asking his question and for giving me an opportunity to update the House on this matter. I agree with Michel Barnier and others when they say that, as the days pass, a no-deal Brexit looks like a real possibility.

Of course, we hope that will not be the case but the country needs to be ready if it is. The Government is very much focused on working with all other parties in this House to ensure we do everything we can to prepare Ireland for that outcome, which would put huge strain and pressure on many sectors across the country. We are well prepared in many ways and we go through the detail of that preparation on a regular basis with stakeholders and many others. State agencies are constantly reaching out and speaking to different sectors and businesses on what they need to do to prepare for Brexit. I will bring two Brexit papers to Cabinet this evening when it meets at 8.30 p.m. on the Taoiseach's return from Paris. I assure the Deputy that the no-deal Brexit preparations have intensified significantly in recent days and that will continue.

On the difficult issue of how we respond to the challenges of an all-island economy in the context of the United Kingdom crashing out of the European Union and, therefore, Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, being outside of the customs union and Single Market without any deal in place, we have always said that is a very difficult challenge to respond to for us, as a Government, and the EU collectively. We have a dual responsibility to protect the integrity of the EU Single Market, of which we are very much a part, and Ireland will not to allow a situation where the UK leaving the European Union without a deal drags Ireland out of the Single Market with it. We cannot allow that situation. By that I mean that a response that involves checks in EU ports on all Irish products is not a runner. That would cause significant damage to our economy and we will not allow it. What we need to do, and what we are doing now, is to intensify our discussions with the European Commission on how we respond to the dual responsibility of protecting the Good Friday Agreement, the peace process and relations on this island as best we can while, at the same time, ensuring that we can reassure other EU countries that Ireland is protecting the integrity of the Single Market that we all share. The Taoiseach has referred to the conversations that have begun on that issue. There was a meeting last Friday and those discussions will continue into this week. We must find a way to protect the Single Market's integrity but also avoid physical infrastructure on the Border. That is something on which we do not have an agreed plan we are working this week, and into next week if necessary, in the context of a no-deal Brexit.

See this speech in context