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

I propose to take Questions No. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

My Department works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has overall responsibility for Brexit. A comprehensive set of structures has been put in place to ensure that all Departments and their agencies are engaged in detailed preparedness and contingency activities. Within my Department, staff across several divisions contribute to the work on Brexit. Brexit is a core part of the work of the international, EU and Northern Ireland division, which is headed by a second Secretary General who acts as Irish sherpa for EU business, including Brexit issues. The division advises me in my role as a member of European Council and in respect of Government consideration of Brexit issues, including negotiations, as well as Northern Ireland affairs and British-Irish relations. The economic division of my Department advises me in the development and implementation of national and sectoral economic policies to ensure the economy is well placed to respond to opportunities and threats, including Brexit.

To augment this ongoing work, my Department also has a dedicated unit on Brexit preparedness and contingency planning. This unit, working closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, assists several groups that oversee Brexit preparations. The unit provides assistance to a Secretaries General group, chaired by the Secretary General to the Government. The unit also assists a senior officials group of assistant secretaries on no-deal Brexit planning. It has been meeting on a regular basis and planning based on the Government's contingency action plan, which was published last December and updated on 30 January. The plan provides detailed sectoral analyses and approaches to mitigate the impacts of a no-deal Brexit.

My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, also jointly chairs a senior officials group on Brexit-related legislation, which oversaw the development of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019, signed into law by the President on St. Patrick's Day. Work is continuing in parallel on complementary secondary legislation.

The decision of the European Council to extend Article 50 prevented a no-deal Brexit on 12 April and has significantly reduced the overall risk of no deal. However, given the ongoing political uncertainty in London, that risk has not been fully averted, and prudent preparations by the Government for all possible scenarios will continue.

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