Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government has been actively preparing for Brexit since the referendum took place. While a no-deal Brexit will never be Ireland's or the European Union’s choice, the risk of a no-deal remains significant and, therefore, no-deal preparations have the highest priority across Government. The aim of the Government’s preparations is to make sure that Irish citizens and businesses are as ready as possible for a no-deal Brexit, as set out in the Government’s most recent contingency action plan. That plan set out in detail our analysis of the risks and impacts of a no-deal outcome across a range of key issues and sectors, and the extensive work ongoing across Government to mitigate these risks. The plan follows on the enactment of the Brexit omnibus Bill earlier this year and the roll-out of a comprehensive programme of stakeholder engagement. As Minister for Finance, my objective is to protect the economic and financial interests of the State and to support the work of the Revenue Commissioners so as to minimise Brexit disruption to trade to the greatest extent possible. My Department and its agencies are advancing preparations within the whole-of-government framework overseen by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Taoiseach. The Government has already taken important steps to prepare our economy in each of the last three budgets.

In response to the questions the Deputy put to me, on the overview of where we are from a budgetary point of view, that will be consistent with the budgetary framework I published as part of the summer economic statement, where I outlined the range of deficits that might be possible if we are in a no-deal scenario. There has been engagement with the European Commission, which has primarily centred around some sectors such as, for example, what could happen to agrifood in the future or the area of policy flexibility in respect of the deployment of our own resources.

See this speech in context