Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber to discuss the important issue of the Brexit report that has been published. I compliment the Chairperson who has done a fantastic job in combining all these key issues regarding Brexit. It is a good work in progress. The Brexit report is a good starting base to have a detailed discussion about core areas affected by Brexit.

I will stick to the agricultural industry and how it is going to be significantly affected. There are 59 dairy milk processing plants on this island. It is an industry worth literally €17.5 billion to our economy. It will affect every single dairy farmer and every community if we do not get the issue of origin of product sorted. Some 40% of milk is coming from the North to the South to be processed. These are huge issues for our communities and our manufacturing industries. How we deal with that origin issue is really important. It is probably one of the most significant issues, not alone for rural Ireland but for our economy itself.

Another key issue is that we need veterinary certificates to be signed. At the moment, roughly 100 veterinarians graduate each year from our veterinary college. We have a huge issue around a shortage of veterinarians on farms because of the lack of veterinarians in the country. Now veterinarians are being sucked out of practice and are doing departmental work because of Brexit. That will have a potential knock on effect on services on the ground. We will have to look at how those veterinary certificates are being worked on and who signs them. With a limited number of graduates coming through, we cannot have a situation where veterinarians are literally taken away from the farm gate to do this work.

The Chairperson mentioned the whiskey industry, which is a really significant industry for Ireland, with massive potential to grow. Again, however, the all-Ireland origin issue is a massive one for us. I mentioned it on the first day the committee met. I still believe it is one of the most important industries in regard to growth and we need to protect it. We need to protect the all-Ireland nature of it. That is going to be a significant challenge with Brexit.

My final point is our tourism industry. We were moving to an all-Ireland tourism model. Brexit has damaged relations, without a shadow of a doubt. A renewed effort is required to make sure we can build on that all-Ireland tourism model because that is a key driver for our economy and for our society. The work the committee has done is a great start but significant engagement is required to keep it going.