Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Dáil Éireann has not been prorogued so we will be asking questions and, unlike some of what has happened across the water, we expect to get very clear and accurate answers.

All of us in this House, and certainly those workers and employers across the country, understand that the preparations for a no-deal Brexit is not a normal annual budgetary issue. We need to know what the Taoiseach will deploy in terms of the strategic reserves we have in this country to ensure that the task of preserving jobs, which is far more useful than the task of trying to replace jobs, through this difficult period is understood. That means drilling into every industry to know where the jobs are vulnerable and what they might need. The sums talked about are paltry in the context of what will be required in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

We also need to know on a workplace by workplace basis what the pressures are and what will be required. Many of these companies are not going to apply for loans because they cannot afford to provide for further demands right now, adding debt. That is not the solution. I want a clear indication from the Taoiseach that he understands the scale of what will be required in the event of a no-deal Brexit and that he has planned well for that and that he understands where and how resources will be deployed and how much resources will come from Europe and to help us.

See this speech in context