Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to express my concerns that when all the talk is about Covid-19, we seem to have forgotten the other major disruption facing our lives, that is, Brexit.

Brexit will impact all of us from every sector of society. Last week, I met local farmers in County Carlow and we talked not about Covid-19 but about Brexit. The Irish farming and food sector has a higher dependence on the UK market when compared with other sectors in Ireland and is, therefore, the most exposed sector to any negative economic impact of the UK Brexit decision.

Farmers have done much for this country since the first settlers farmed our lands years ago. We cannot forget them. Farmers need a dedicated examination of Brexit risks. At present, beef farmers are living without any certainty on beef prices or markets. There have been massive losses in our economy because of Covid-19 and now we are looking at the potential of €740 million in tariffs being imposed. Yet, the meat industry, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Bord Bia and Teagasc have not been clear on what is happening. We cannot allow all our focus to be on Covid-19. It is a pandemic and we must deal with that but we must be able to multitask and prepare for 2021 to be another intense year with Brexit.

Beef farmers need a coherent plan to develop suckler beef as a premium product, a guarantee for funding for developing a suckler brand and assistance for start-up farmer producers who wish to sell their beef directly to the market. Preparations are already under way for next year's lambing season and there has been no word on whether the sheep welfare scheme will be rolled over into next year. Sheep farmers need this scheme to roll over into 2021 and for all avenues of providing additional financial support to sheep farmers to be explored.

We must do all we can for dairy farmers to retain the tariff-free access to the UK market, particularly for Irish cheddar exports. Any loss or reduction of access to the UK market could have a destabilising impact the overall value of the Irish dairy sector. It is vital we do not leave anyone behind.

We cannot forget the close relationship tillage farmers have to the Northern Irish market, nor can we lock away our mushroom farmers, for whom the UK represents 90% of the value of exports. I insist that we do all we can to protect all our farmers, our farm families and our future.

Naturally Brexit impacts all sectors of society. The devastation Covid-19 has brought to our doors could very well be compounded by a no-deal Brexit. Ireland's economy and society will be tested in the coming months in ways never experienced previously. It is important, therefore, that we ensure emergency supports issued during this pandemic, which are very welcome to many sectors but which are due to expire in the first half of 2021, are followed by a new suite of policy measures to support economic recovery while we prepare for a no-deal Brexit. A second shock on 1 January after all we have been through may be too much to bear if we do not prepare. Let us use some of the lessons we have learned during the pandemic to our advantage in the event of no deal.

As some sectors were very hard hit by Covid-19, some indigenous sectors boomed. Our garden and hardware sector, our pharmaceutical industry and other multinationals all have potential to be key drivers of the economic resurgence and jobs throughout the country. It is time for us to be bold and brave because as Joseph Campbell once said, " Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging."

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