Written answers

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Brexit Issues

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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468. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she has created a special unit in her Department to specifically deal with Brexit; if so, the number of staff that are full-time tasked with the objective; the annual budget; and the specific responsibility of each person. [32847/16]

Photo of Mary Mitchell O'ConnorMary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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In the context of my Department, given the breath and diversity of policy and operational areas that are relevant to the UK’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.

Immediately following the UK referendum result, I 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. I chair this Group, and I will continue to do so as part of my Department’s ongoing response. In addition, my Department has also decided to establish a Senior Officials Group on Brexit, which will monitor developments across the Department on a regular basis at official level.

The EU Affairs Unit of my Department has exercised a dedicated overall coordination role across all of the relevant policy areas, and has represented my Department in the work that is being undertaken at cross-Government level. In light of the volume of work to date, my Department has since decided to augment these existing arrangements with the establishment of a Brexit Unit, led at Principal level, to work alongside our existing EU Affairs Unit as well as all other Business Units dealing with Brexit-impacted areas of our business.

The Management Board of my Department also co-ordinates my Departments’ own response across all its Divisions to the referendum outcome.

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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469. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she has created a special unit in IDA Ireland to specifically deal with Brexit; if so, the number of staff that are full time tasked with the objective; the annual budget; and the specific responsibility of each person. [32848/16]

Photo of Mary Mitchell O'ConnorMary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Preparing for the possibility of Brexit has long been a priority for IDA Ireland. Before the referendum the Agency established a team of senior managers to examine the potential impact of a UK withdrawal from the EU on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Ireland. This work intensified following the result of the referendum in June and the IDA continues to engage with existing and prospective clients to ensure that its strategy remains fit for purpose in light of the various challenges that Brexit may present for Ireland.

It is important to realise that Brexit is likely to impact all of IDA Ireland’s operational divisions. Responsibility for managing Brexit as a whole cannot therefore be assigned entirely to a single discrete business unit within the Agency. Instead, all of the IDA’s main teams will be responsible for helping to address Brexit and its impacts on FDI into Ireland.

The full extent for Ireland of the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will, of course, remain unclear until we know the outcome of the negotiations concerning the new arrangements that will govern the EU’s relationship with the UK. However, the Government is working hard in the meantime to ensure that Ireland is prepared to meet challenges associated with Brexit. In this context, an additional €500,000 was provided in support of the IDA’s global communications activities to allow the Agency to highlight Ireland’s attributes as a key European FDI location post-Brexit. Additional funding was also secured in Budget 2017 to allow for more than 50 new posts for the Department and its agencies to support our response to Brexit.

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