Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue on Brexit and the implementation of the British withdrawal come 1 January. It will, unfortunately, cause a significant amount of distress and worry about the jobs of workers in industries, particularly in the agri-food industry. It will have a major impact in my constituency of Laois-Offaly, particularly if we do not get a good trade agreement.

It is important that businesses are given certainty around how Brexit will impact on their operations. While we have many differences with people on the Government benches regarding Brexit, Sinn Féin has supported and trusted the efforts to get a strong trade agreement between the EU and Britain and we will continue to do so.

We also need to continue to work not only to hold on to the all-Ireland economy, but to strengthen and deepen the economic connections between North and South economically and to build a strong all-Ireland economy. Workers and families need to know their livelihoods are secure and their employment is sustainable into the future. If one looks at meat factories in Laois-Offaly, for example, they and their workers need to know we will continue to have access to markets in Britain to allow them to plan six months, 12 months or two years down the road. The meat industry provides many jobs in the two counties in plants such as Meadow Meats and Rosderra. Their future is dependent on trade agreements yet to be finalised.

The dairy industry could be similarly impacted. Hundreds of people work on the Kilkenny-Laois border in the Glanbia plant in Ballyragget. The new cheese factory, which belongs to Glanbia, is just about to open in Portlaoise. That will depend on an export market with Britain and it is important we do everything possible to try to support the work to get a good trade agreement before Britain crashes out completely on 31 December.

We have seen the alarming reports that Brexit could endanger up 12,500 jobs in the agri-food sector and that our beef exports could drop by 20%. We must do everything possible not to allow that to happen. There are also quite a few engineering companies in the midlands and, indeed, in County Laois which have contracts with businesses in England. Workers from County Laois travel over to carry out work in Britain. These companies support incomes and families in our communities and we need to ensure we give certainty to them about the future and their businesses.

It is important that Enterprise Ireland and local enterprise offices reach out and work with local businesses. I know and acknowledge much work has been done to ensure plans are in place post-Brexit. Recent evidence, however, highlights the fact that 20% of domestic companies still do not have a proper plan in place in the event of talks collapsing with Britain and, indeed, to mitigate the effects of Brexit. One way or another there will be effects, even if we have a good trade deal.

We must, therefore, also remember the significance of the Good Friday Agreement. We cannot allow attempts by the British Government to override and diminish that agreement. The introduction of a hard border of any sort, or any kind of deviation from that agreement between the Twenty-six Counties and Six Counties, must be challenged and stopped. The citizens of the North voted against Brexit and Stormont must have maximum authority to decide its future. An all-Ireland economy has the potential to be stronger than any negatives we could face from Brexit and we need to move in that direction. The attempts by Boris Johnson to destroy the Irish protocol must be stopped. I welcome the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. As the Minister knows, that strengthens our hand in negotiations and we should use that to the full in terms of keeping the pressure on Britain.

We need to keep the Six Counties in the Single Market and within Single Market and EU rules. I look forward to the time when the Six Counties rejoin the European Union alongside the rest of Ireland. The logic of having all 32 counties in the European Union was never more apparent and we need to start planning for and working towards it. The real solution to the British exit from the EU is a united Ireland and that will take some time and some planning. In the meantime, let us do everything possible to mitigate the effects of Brexit.

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