Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he has undertaken any contingency planning for the effects of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union; and the areas in which this contingency planning has been undertaken and the key proposals he has. [19027/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The outcome of the recent United Kingdom EU referendum clearly has very significant implications for Ireland, as well as for Britain and for the European Union.

However, as the United Kingdom has not yet formally withdrawn from the Union, it currently remains a full EU Member, with all of its existing rights and obligations. Contingency planning in that context is challenging because many of the impacts on Ireland depend on the new arrangements that can be agreed between the United Kingdom and the EU.

In the meantime, the Government has adopted an initial Contingency Framework to map out the key issues that will be most important to Ireland in the coming weeks and months. This will be an iterative process as issues emerge and recede in the course of negotiations.

Priority issues identified in the Contingency Framework have varying levels of impact on the work of different Government Departments. In terms of the remit of my own Department, a key issue will be to seek to ensure that future EU-UK and Ireland-UK negotiations give priority attention to the Northern Ireland dimension. This includes issues relating to the border and EU funding.

While the Contingency Framework is being coordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach, a senior official in every Government Department, including my own, has already been identified to manage how key policy issues arising from the referendum vote in the UK to leave the EU will be addressed. This will ensure that the Government and its constituent Departments will be able to minimise potential operational risks likely to arise during the exit negotiations.