Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste to the House. I thank him, the Taoiseach, and all the Ministers for the work they have done on this matter to date in protecting Ireland's interest. I also thank all those in the Opposition parties for the work they have done and for their contribution. We have shown very much a united front in the way we have approached Brexit, which is important because we have also won the support, as some of my colleagues have referred to, of the other member states of the European Union in dealing with the many challenges we face as a country. I also acknowledge the important contributions of my colleague, Senator Richmond, to public debates on both Irish and UK media. Whether it was the Tánaiste, the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, the Taoiseach, or Senator Richmond, they have very much come across as knowing the issues well and positive about the way forward in dealing with Brexit.

There are many challenges and the Government has made provision for new legislation. It will have 17 different parts, which will be comprehensive, and will cover a wide range of areas, including health, which is an important area. Senator Bacik referred to the challenges we face in this area, as did other colleagues. The legislation will also deal with the areas of finance, taxation, financial services and amendments to EU regulations. In addition to the comprehensive legislation we must now put through, we must also put through, we must approve approximately 20 separate statutory instruments. They will all have to be carefully drafted to deal with the challenges we face. I thank each and every one of the Departments and the officials in each Department for the work they are doing in this regard because we face a significant sea change, which we must deal comprehensively with in the way we go forward.

We face a number of other challenges, for instance, the important issue of medicines. The Government has a short timescale now to plan to ensure there is no shortfall or delay in accessing them for those who require medicines. The Minister for Health, the HSE and the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, have done much work on this, but it is one area the Government needs to work on and ensure we prioritise.

The transport of goods out of Ireland is another challenge. More than €21 billion worth of exports is transported from Ireland to other EU countries, and it is important that at all stages Irish companies have access to the transport system to get their goods to their final destination in a timely manner. This is a challenge and something that must be dealt with. The Minister responsible is working on it but it is also important he has full co-operation from the various shipping companies, together with the transport organisations and the ports.

We have much work to do on this but I know that the Tánaiste, together with the Ministers and the Government, are working on it. This is a new era because this is something we have not had to face previously and something on which we must all work together to ensure that all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted, no matter what the issue is. We must be ready for the situation, which I hope will not happen, where there is no agreement from the UK. It is a challenging situation but also one that we need to be careful about in the wording we use and the comments we make. It is important that the agreement negotiated by Theresa May be finally agreed at UK level and that an agreement will be in place by 29 March. I again thank the Tánaiste for the work he is doing in this area.