Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the reassurance the Minister of State has provided regarding the great efforts being undertaken by the Minister and his ministerial team to bring the European Medicines Agency to Ireland. I underline my view that we must involve the private and commercial sector and civic society in this process and make clear to them that they have a vested interest in achieving this objective. The Government will not be successful if it acts alone, which means that the process must be all-inclusive.

When negotiations commence following the invocation of Article 50, it must be made clear that Ireland will suffer more than all other member states as a result of Brexit. The economic and social decline we will inevitably experience as a result of Brexit must be offset by policy changes at European level. The European Union must pay more attention to Ireland, for example, by making it a key location for financial services companies which decide to move their operations from the United Kingdom. These companies are calling themselves "the old exiles". One of the EU agencies based in the United Kingdom, preferably the European Medicines Agency, should also relocate to Ireland to give something back to a country that has always been pro-European and a positive member state.