Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Those are very fair questions. Obviously, we will hear the announcement tomorrow. We will all have to assess it and respond in a calm and measured way. I will be continuing calls with EU counterparts tomorrow. I have spoken to my counterparts in Finland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia in very recent days, including today, and I will have a call with the EU trade Commissioner. I will speak to my Swedish counterpart tomorrow. There is a big pharma presence in Sweden. We will address the Seanad on Thursday morning, where there will be statements specifically on trade. I will chair the trade forum in Government Buildings on Friday, and on Monday I will head to Luxembourg to the trade Ministers meeting, at which we will have a chance to assess, as the EU 27, the EU response.

I am very happy to arrange a further briefing. I will come back to the Deputy on the timing. I believe there will be a series of ongoing briefings for Opposition leaders and spokespeople. Let us allow the announcement tomorrow and make sure the briefings happen later this week or very early next week.

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