Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions and his brevity. Regarding legislation, I confirm that drafting is being done on a new Brexit omnibus Bill. Departments have highlighted that there will be a need to introduce or renew some legislation come 1 January next year, particularly if there is no deal. That is why that has started. We also brought a memorandum to the Cabinet two weeks ago, which has advised and asked all Departments to start engaging with their own industries and sectors, not just regarding new legislation but also further work or support that might be needed, based on the two scenarios I have outlined. Some elements of the previous legislation can be enacted, but the vast majority of it was based on a no-deal scenario and that will need to be updated and amended. My understanding, once we have a new Government in place, is that we will bring this legislation before the House. We will then have an opportunity to debate it and, hopefully, pass it in time.

Regarding the Northern Ireland protocol, I am not saying there is any backsliding. However, what has been presented so far is not adequate and does not provide enough information. It is very welcome that the UK has presented a paper. It is also welcome that it has eventually been acknowledged that there will have to be some form of checks on goods going from Britain into Northern Ireland, particularly sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, and animal products. As I mentioned earlier, however, there is not much in the paper regarding issues concerning customs, tariffs and VAT.

Another issue we have highlighted, and that I have highlighted to many of my European colleagues, is the reference to the backstop being temporary. As we know, the backstop will be there unless and until another mechanism is put in place. That was agreed as part of the agreement in the context of the Northern Ireland protocol, so it is important that it is acknowledged that this is something that will be put in place, unless another mechanism is there to implement different measures.

Regarding what is being done to prepare businesses, we are in a difficult scenario at the moment with businesses very much focused on Covid-19. That was relayed to us two weeks ago when we held the first Brexit stakeholders forum since the pandemic took over. We are trying to get businesses to rethink and re-engage in respect of how prepared they are for Brexit. The focus of businesses now, of course, is on surviving and not thriving. In saying that, many businesses that will get back on track by the end of the year could be faced with new implications from a no-deal trade arrangement. It is important, therefore, that businesses are aware of that prospect and that they start thinking of how that might impact on them.

It is also important, however, that much work was done before Covid-19. Last year, more than 102,000 businesses were contacted by the Revenue and more than 65,000 now have an economic operators registration and identification, EORI, number, which is important in trading. That represents approximately 95% of EU-UK trade. In addition, many supports were also put in place, and while many of them have been repurposed for Covid-19, we know that with a new Government and a new budget on the way, more financial supports will have to be put in place.

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