Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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321. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of staff dedicated to managing Ireland's response to the decision of the United Kingdom to exit the European Union; the structure of this team; how it will work with teams in other Departments; who has overall responsibility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20305/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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In light of the breath and diversity of policy and operational areas that are relevant to the decision of the United Kingdom to exit the European Union, this is a matter that impacts on, and is being monitored by, all of the Divisions across my Department.

In the immediate aftermath of the announcement of the UK referendum result on the morning of 24 June last, as part of my contingency plans, I instituted a Coordination Group consisting of relevant enterprise, single market, and trade officials of my Department, together with the Chief Executive Officers of IDA and Enterprise Ireland, to oversee the management of our immediate response, including the messaging to businesses both domestically and overseas. I am chairing this Group personally, and I will continue to do so as part of my Department’s ongoing response as developments unfold.

In addition, the EU Affairs Unit of my Department exercises a dedicated overall coordination role across all of the relevant policy areas, and represents my Department in the work that is being undertaken at cross-Government level, led by the Department of the Taoiseach, in response to the outcome of the referendum, and which facilitates the framework for my Department’s interaction with other Departments in this context.

The Management Board of my Department, chaired by the Secretary General , also meets weekly and co-ordinates the Departments own response across all its Divisions to the referendum outcome.