Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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872. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she considered establishing a dedicated unit to co-ordinate activities to mitigate the impact of the British exit from the European Union referendum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21999/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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A central cross-Government co-ordination unit in regard to Brexit has been established in the Department of the Taoiseach.

In regard to my own Department, given the breath and diversity of policy and operational areas that are relevant to the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, this is a matter that impacts on, and is being monitored by, all of the Divisions across my Department.

Since the announcement of the UK referendum result on 24 June, as part of my contingency plans, I have established a Coordination Group within my Department consisting of relevant enterprise, single market, and trade officials, 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 at home and overseas. I chair this Group, and I will continue to do so as part of my Department’s ongoing response as developments unfold at EU level and bilaterally with the UK.

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 regard.

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.

As I have previously indicated, a team of senior officials from my Department visited London on 1 July to discuss Single Market and Trade issues in light of the referendum outcome.

I have also written to my newly-appointed counterparts in the new UK Government– Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, and Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy– to confirm my intention to work together with them as the upcoming negotiations develop, and to request an early opportunity to discuss our priorities.