Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have no doubt this has been extremely time-consuming for the Minister and officials not just in his Department but across the Government for the past number of years. That said, it is prudent for us to have the reserve that budget 2021 has given us because of the potential of a no-deal Brexit. It is the right course of action.

I know the Department is making every effort to deal with the challenges of Brexit but the next few months will be extremely difficult for Ireland and businesses, not just because of Brexit but because of Covid-19 as well. Is the Minister aware of this morning's report in The Irish Times, which claims that Ireland could lose out to France in laying claim to a significant portion of the €5 billion Brexit compensation fund? Even if we got all the fund, it would not compensate the hit to our economy. As the Department of Finance and ESRI analysis indicates, the long run impact to gross domestic product is between 2.6% and 5% in a no-deal Brexit, meaning losses of between €9 and €17 billion in 2017 prices. Will the Minister comment on that?

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