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

I am restructuring the Cabinet sub-committees to make them more workable by having quarterly meetings. I propose to put Brexit, EU affairs and global Ireland together in a new committee.

I do not have the terms and conditions of the beef package before me, but I understand the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has made farmers aware of it. If he has not, I am sure he will do so as soon as possible.

Deputy Boyd Barrett spoke about a special dispensation from the EU customs code. There is no such special dispensation. The European Union is a union of treaties and laws and there are no special dispensations. It is in our interests to defend the Single Market and the customs union. The economy, jobs and trade are based on them and we will not allow Ireland to be pulled out of the Single Market and the customs union because of a decision made by the people in Britain.

With regard to Dublin Port, Rosslare and Dublin Airport, the temporary infrastructure is ready. It was ready for March and it certainly will be ready for 31 October. The Port of Cork does not arise as an issue. To the best of my knowledge, there are no vessels going from Cork to Britain. They go from Rosslare and Dublin. There are vessels going from Cork to Spain and from Waterford to the Netherlands. We have looked at the capacity between Ireland and mainland continental Europe, and there is a lot of available capacity to allow people to send their goods directly to continental Europe by sea, acknowledging that it would be slower than going over the land bridge.

The staff of 700 have been identified and are in place. They are in Revenue, customs, the HSE and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A lot of the work they will do is contacting businesses. Any business that trades with the UK that does not yet have an EORI number will be contacted by letter and followed up by phone to encourage them to get that number so they can be ready for customs procedures. It is important to say that while 40,000 companies have a number, another 40,000 do not. It appears those that do not are those that do not do regular trade with the UK. They may have ordered only one or two boxes of things from the UK in 2018. Those that are regular or weekly traders with the UK seem to have them in place but we will still contact every business, by phone and letter, that traded with the UK in 2018 to encourage them to make sure they are ready.

In terms of more general business preparations, we are encouraging businesses that have not yet done so to engage. It is not a case of saying it will be all right on the night. Some people may assume there will be a deal, and I hope there will be. Some people may assume there will be an extension if there is no deal but I do not think businesses can make that assumption and I would encourage any business that has not engaged to do so. There is still time between now and 31 October but not as much time as people may think.

The Getting Ireland Brexit Ready campaign was launched back in September. A total of 104 stakeholder events have been held in 21 counties so far, with many more planned. With regard to financial assistance for business, there is a €300 million Brexit loan scheme with affordable loans of €25,000 to €1.5 million for eligible businesses impacted by Brexit. There is also a €300 million future growth loan scheme for SMEs, including farmers, to back strategic long-term investment after Brexit. Enterprise Ireland has its be prepared grant of €5,000 to assist client companies develop strategic plans to respond to Brexit. InterTradeIreland's start to plan vouchers of up to €2,000 will help SMEs to get professional advice on Brexit. There are also Enterprise Ireland's market discovery fund and agile innovation fund, and the LEO financial supports, such as technical assistance and micro-export grants. There is also a rescue and restructuring scheme for SMEs that has increased from €20 million to €200 million to allow the Government to offer rescue aid and temporary restructuring aid to SMEs that need it. Practical assistance also includes the Brexit scorecard, the Brexit readiness check for tourism, the Brexit advisory clinics, the Brexit barometer and the trader engagement programme.

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