Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In February 2018, the Government published a report that it had commissioned on the impact of Brexit on the Irish economy. The report deals with four possible scenarios, the most severe being a hard Brexit, which is a real possibility now. It confirmed at the time what we already knew, namely, that there will be no good Brexit for Ireland, with a crash-out Brexit being all too real a possibility. I read the report again and it highlights how rural Ireland would be particularly hit. It predicted a loss of 30,000 jobs in the food sector in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Agriculture, fishing and food processing would be among the sectors hardest hit. That would decimate rural Ireland. These were the warnings the Government received two years ago. Two years ago we knew rural Ireland would bear the brunt if there was a crash-out Brexit. That was long before we ever heard of Covid-19. In my constituency of Mayo there are twice as many working in agriculture and fisheries than the average in the State. Ninety per cent of our beef is exported. Of that, 50% goes to the UK, constituting a value of €1.2 billion.

A no-deal Brexit means tariffs. A World Trade Organization, TWO, tariff would add more than €3 to a kilo of beef and increase the price by more than 60%. That would make it absolutely uncompetitive versus the South American imports that would be coming in to Britain. The UK has the highest price in the EU while British consumers consider Irish beef as local. That is important. Ireland is the only imported beef supplier to the three largest UK supermarkets, namely, Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys, as well as to McDonalds and Burger King.

Fishermen understand that their sector has become one of the key stumbling blocks in the negotiations but also that they catch one third of their landings in the waters that are controlled by Britain. I am aware that is one of the key sticking points, as well as the State aid issue. Thirty-four per cent of Irish landings are taken from UK waters. That means 30% of Irish fishing is dependent on access to UK waters, with the top two catches being mackerel at 60% and prawns at 40%. The UK vessel land is 20,000 tonnes in Irish ports each year. The Irish vessel land is 12,000 tonnes in UK ports.

Another stark warning came last September from the Central Bank which said that 70% of all farmers were economically vulnerable. Beef and sheep farmers are facing an existential crisis. The west, the mid-west and the midlands, the regions most reliant on cattle and sheep production, will be hit the hardest if Britain crashes out of the EU. They do not blame the Government for Brexit but there is a real anger that successive Governments have failed to take on the meat factories that have driven prices far below the cost of production. The budget needs to send a strong message that rural Ireland will be protected.

This is the time for Ireland to stand firm. The EU Brexit fund must be front-loaded by financial supports for agriculture and the fishing sectors. I was glad to hear the Tánaiste say that but it is very important that fund is targeted towards the regions and rural Ireland, and the west of Ireland in particular. I am aware there are ongoing discussions with the sectors but those discussions need to intensify. That funding needs to be targeted in a way that it will mean something real.

Failure to do so would be intolerable and would certainly mean the destruction of fishing and farming.

The Tánaiste correctly stated much business is being done online. It is likely that at least 100 extra pieces of paper will be required per export transaction. It is vital that we have broadband to deal with this. I am hearing reports all the time that it will take three to five years for many rural areas to have adequate broadband speeds. I am aware of this because of my higher education portfolio. Many students are contacting me to state they are being asked to do lectures online but cannot do so because they do not have broadband. It is important, therefore, that we do not consider the impact of Brexit in isolation; our consideration must be intertwined with our approach to the broadband plan. It would be really useful to have a very specific update on the broadband plan and its direction for the next three months.

Another way to combat the negative impact of Brexit is with infrastructure. We should invest in it now so it may carry us through to the future. Knock Airport is crucial to the development of the west, as is the western rail corridor. I was alarmed to see that the business section of the Mayo campus of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology is closed at this time. I cannot understand that. When education and the connection between education, industry and the development of the west in terms of sustainable energy projects are so important, why would we seek to close down the business section of the campus? This is not unrelated to Brexit. We have to invest in infrastructure and learning facilities in the regions if we are to stand any chance of fighting the negative impact of Brexit and Covid.

I ask the Tánaiste to consider all these points and work with the Opposition, particularly on the development of the western economic corridor in order we can have sustainable development and targeted investment, making use of EU Structural Fund and the Brexit fund so we will have long-lasting, long-term projects that will see us through to the future.

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