Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I particularly welcome his final sentence indicating that the Department is in direct contact with the company in question. I am reminded of a communication I received from the Taoiseach early in January, having raised issues around this matter when other companies highlighted to me the difficulties they had with the new regime, notwithstanding the efforts and the commitments they made on foot of Government advice in advance of Brexit. The Taoiseach indicated at that time that his office was engaging extensively with stakeholders and businesses across all Departments and agencies to support businesses to continue to trade and to resolve any issues that might arise as quickly as possible. He indicated that our feedback in this area was particularly helpful.

I acknowledge the commitment made by the Minister of State on this matter. I expect that the response and engagement will be in line with the thrust of what was contained in the correspondence that was given to me earlier this year, which acknowledged the impact of the new regime and the way in which different Departments can come together to assist companies to overcome difficulties. It was also stated in that correspondence that the Government very much welcomed the conclusion of the EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement ensuring quota-free and tariff-free trade between the EU and the UK, which would mitigate the additional impact of a no-deal Brexit. The correspondence stated that this agreement, together with the withdrawal agreement and the protocol for Ireland and Northern Ireland, meant that Ireland's key Brexit objectives had now been agreed.

In a few short weeks, unfortunately, that has been brought into question by the error we are told was made by the Commission in regard to its communication last week, where it inadvertently sought to invoke Article 16 of the protocol. That in itself has caused difficulties. I again ask that in the context of the discussions that are taking place around the whole area of trade between our two countries vis-à-visthe agreement that has been reached, that every effort be made to accommodate the additional difficulties that have arisen. I welcome the commitment the Minister of State has given in this regard.

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