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

The one thing that has been a common thread throughout the Brexit negotiations for the last three years is that Ireland has not been left on her own. We have had extraordinary solidarity from other EU member states and from the EU institutions. That continues, as lately as yesterday, from President Juncker and the Luxembourg Prime Minister. Virtually every EU leader who speaks on Brexit talks about Ireland and the need for solidarity. In a no-deal scenario, I expect there will be solidarity too. We know that in the context of funding, particularly around agriculture, there will be a financial package of support in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Commissioner Hogan has outlined that, although not the detail of it - I accept that. We also know that there is funding available for people who may be losing employment as a result of the shock of a no-deal Brexit. Along with that, we know we are going to have to access a lot of financial resources ourselves. We are designing a budget accordingly. As the Taoiseach said earlier, we would rather be borrowing money to keep people in employment than doing so to pay for social welfare because people have lost their jobs. We want to focus the support schemes on keeping business going and keeping people in employment as best we can as we get through the disruption that will undoubtedly happen after a no-deal Brexit.

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