Dáil debates

Tuesday, 16 January 2018

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions

Brexit Issues

7:15 pm

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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48. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development his Department's plans in respect of Brexit; the number of staff his Department has assigned to Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54712/17]

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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We all realise the potential impact of Brexit on rural Ireland, rural industries, agrifood and the agricultural industry. If we did not already know that we were fully informed last night by an excellent programme on RTÉ by George Lee last night. We need to ensure that all possible outcomes are being investigated and explored. We need a beefed-up team of officials in the Department of Rural and Community Development specifically devoted to Brexit to ensure we are dealing with all possible ramifications and consequences.

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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My colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, has the primary responsibility for leading on Brexit negotiations. My Department is contributing to discussions and providing policy advice relevant to its remit, as and when required.

The comprehensive document Ireland and the negotiations on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union: The Government’s Approach,  published on 2 May 2017, outlined in detail the structures put in place by the Government to ensure a strategic and whole-of-Government response to Brexit that ensures a co-ordinated approach to the identification of key priority issues for the EU-UK negotiations, and the wider domestic response.

Since the publication of the comprehensive document, the Government has sought to further increase its strategic oversight of Brexit through the addition of a dedicated responsibility for Brexit matters as part of the role of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Cabinet committee structures have also been reformed and new Cabinet committees relating respectively to the economy, and EU affairs, including Brexit and the economic response to Brexit, have been established to provide an opportunity for cross-departmental input into the issues.

The Department for Rural and Community Development has been established to deliver on the Government's commitment to bring a greater degree of co-ordination and cohesion to all of the work of Government in so far as it impacts on rural Ireland and communities. The impact of Brexit on regional and rural businesses and on communities is relevant across a number of policy areas of the Department. In this context, considerations around the impact of Brexit are shared across different policy areas rather than being assigned to a single unit or to specific staff.

In addition, my role in the Cabinet committee on the economy gives me a specific forum to raise issues for rural Ireland relating to the economy, jobs, the labour market, competitiveness, productivity, trade, the action plan on rural development and the digital economy, including managing and mitigating the risks associated with Brexit and I do so in conjunction with the Minister, Deputy Ring.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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We all acknowledge the successful conclusion of phase 1 of the Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU into which we had a significant input. We also acknowledge the significant hurdles that will arise during phase 2 whereby many of those fundamental commitments will have to be reduced to legally enforceable trade agreements. As Professor Alan Matthews said last night, we will have to square circles to achieve particular outcomes and that will be a challenge. The only way to achieve those outcomes is for the UK to stay in the Single Market and the customs union because it doing so will help deliver the type of Border and trade arrangements which Ireland needs and to which everybody is committed.

The news that Norway is going to seek significant changes to the European Economic Area, EEA, in the event of special UK access to parts of the Single Market is a reflection of the constraints that the UK will face in the not too distant future. It is important that we remain extremely vigilant in these contexts.

7:25 pm

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I agree. The possible threat posed by and impact of Brexit across all sectors are well known and have been well documented. One could argue that at this stage the Irish Government is better prepared for Brexit than the United Kingdom Government. Even in advance of the referendum result in 2016, work was being done within government. The Joint Committee on European Affairs, of which I am a former member, produced at the time an impact report on the possible implications of Brexit. I did not see all of George Lee's documentary on RTÉ last night, but I saw the tail end of it. It was certainly an important addition to the reflections on the possible impact of Brexit. I intend to look at it again on the RTÉ Player. We have done detailed work in preparation for Brexit and all possible scenarios, including the Action Plan for Jobs 2017 and the trade and investment strategy. There are a number of dedicated measures within budget 2018 which include the €300 million Brexit loan scheme for business, increased funding for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, a €25 million Brexit response loan scheme for the agrifood sector, additional supports for capital investment in the food industry and Bord Bia marketing and promotion activities amounting to over €50 million in total.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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The Minister of State is correct. I do not think the British realise the impact of the conditions. There will be significant resistance in the pro-Brexit press when it finds out that Britain will have to comply with EU trade policy right up to 2021 and will not be able to strike its own deals during the transition period, despite losing access to agreements with 50 countries once it leaves the European Union in March 2019. That is, of course, if the European Union decides to authorise access to the trade deals for the United Kingdom. It is likely that the transition agreement will allow the United Kingdom access to the EU trade deals, but no doubt it will come at a cost. Obviously, the longer the transition period, the better for us. I still subscribe to the view I stated in the House about 15 months ago that this and another Dáil will sit before we will see the end result of this process.

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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There has been a lot of progress, particularly at the last Council meeting before Christmas. The negotiations advanced to stage 2, yet reflected the very important position the Irish Government had taken on the Border issue. It was hugely important to the country and our role in trying to promote and support the retention of all of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, within the Single Market and the customs union, but we do not have the final say on these things. They are part of the negotiations which have moved on to the second phase. Clearly, there is a job of work to be done and it is a huge challenge. We have received support from our European colleagues on the important issue of the Border. It also has implications for how the European Union will proceed in respect of the Single Market and the customs union. We have a very important role to play in that regard. The Dáil will continue to advocate for the best possible outcome to the Brexit negotiations for the whole island.