Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on whether her Department has been allocated enough extra spending to assist and support Irish food and drink companies in 2017 to try to replace UK exports to the EU to compensate for the hit - and potential hit - caused by Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6647/17]

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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While Brexit poses huge challenges, there are probably opportunities of which Ireland can avail. Would the Minister consider putting in place an export fund for us to replace the goods that the UK exported to Europe?

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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There will be opportunities and the opportunities we are seeing are in financial services and my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is responding to that. There have been approximately 100 queries to IDA Ireland and we are working our way through them. I will ensure that we avail of whatever opportunities arise. Is this Question No. 2?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Yes.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I would like that the questions being asked are what I have in front of me.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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They are.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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They are. That was the question I asked.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The agrifood sector is of critical importance to the Irish economy. Its regional spread means it underpins the socioeconomic development of rural areas in particular.

Ambitious plans under the Food Wise 2025 strategy could see the creation of 23,000 jobs and a growth in the value of exports by 85% over the next decade.

Enterprise Ireland works closely with Irish food and drink companies to support innovation and to build scale and resilience for them to be positioned to compete on world markets.

I have secured additional funding for Enterprise Ireland to respond to Brexit. This includes 39 additional staff with sectoral knowledge and expertise.

While Enterprise Ireland is the development agency for companies in the food and drink sector in Ireland, Bord Bia under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible for working with such companies to access overseas markets.

The UK remains a key market. Enterprise Ireland is working closely with Bord Bia to help Irish food and drink companies to build on their international reputation for product excellence and to drive growth in other key markets such as the eurozone, Canada, the US and Asia.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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People might think from the response we have just heard that the Minister and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation are doing enough, but I do not believe that is the case. Brexit has the potential to be the biggest economic disaster to hit the North and the South of Ireland for many generations. We need to meet the challenges that will arise in that frightening context. The provision of €3 million is welcome, as is the allocation of an additional 39 staff to Enterprise Ireland and an additional nine staff to IDA Ireland. We now know what type of Brexit we are facing. We no longer have to wait for the UK to trigger Article 50. Theresa May has made it crystal clear that she is going for a hard Brexit. The Minister will be aware of Ms Patricia King's comments at last week's conference in Carrick-on-Shannon. She said that Irish jobs must not be lost because of a UK decision. I think we need additional funding to help people in the markets that will be affected by that decision. Professor Kevin O'Rourke, who is a professor or economics at Oxford University, recently suggested that the Government should allocate €25 million for a market diversification and product innovation strategy in support of Irish food and drink companies that will have to try to replace UK exports with EU exports and in compensation for the hit caused by Brexit. His analysis of the food and drink sector provides an insight into how the paltry expenditure of €3 million is nowhere near the level of funding needed to meet the challenge of Brexit.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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We are also concerned about Brexit. I remind the Deputy that extra staff have gone in from Enterprise Ireland. Further supports for these sectors were provided for in budget 2017, including the €150 million low-cost loan scheme that was launched on 31 January last, agri-taxation measures and the increase in funding under the rural development and seafood development programmes. A €150 million cashflow support loan scheme is available to farmers throughout Ireland a low interest rate of 2.95%. This loan scheme forms part of the three-pillar strategy in response to income volatility that was announced by the Minister as part of budget 2017. This scheme, along with tax measures and farm payments, will help to alleviate some of the pressures being caused by the recent market difficulties which have been compounded by the uncertainty around Brexit.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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We are all aware that the farming and agrifood sectors will be particularly exposed to the effects of Brexit. Some commentators have suggested that we might be able to attract foreign direct investment. However, jobs that are lost in the agrifood sector will be lost straight away. The European Union Committee of the House of Lords recently published a report on the impact of Brexit which included a suggestion that "Dublin’s limited infrastructure and shortage of housing might deter financial firms from relocating there". The relocation of financial services is one of the supposed benefits of Brexit. It is clear that we will fail to realise that opportunity because of the State's failure to invest in infrastructure over a number of years. On Tuesday of this week, members of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence met Dutch parliamentarians who were on a fact-finding mission to Ireland. They were shocked to hear about the concerns we have in this country regarding the Border. They were talking about the North, in particular, when they said that Ireland is not on the radar of the EU. We need to spend more money. We need to get over there more often.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I reject the Deputy's suggestion that we have not invested in infrastructure. When I was first elected to this House in 2011, the Government was having to cut budgets and the IMF and the EU were in here, having loaned us money. I am not sure whether the Deputy remembers that. It was a short time ago. I absolutely acknowledge that we need to improve infrastructure like roads, housing and office space. When I took up this job last year, I was told there was a huge shortage of office space. A great deal of office space is now being provided by private investors. That will be available in Dublin. I am conscious of the importance of ensuring all the regions get a piece of the action when opportunities are presented by Brexit. We will make sure jobs from back offices and middle offices go to the regions. I will continue to push that agenda.