Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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368. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if there is a senior official with designated responsibility for Brexit matters in his Department; if so, the grade of the designated official; the funding allocated to the said Brexit unit; the cost to date; the anticipated cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16999/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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369. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of staff deployed full time in his Department in respect of Brexit; if there is a designated section or unit to deal with Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17015/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 368 and 369 together.

The outcome of the vote of 23 June 2016 in the UK will have implications across all aspects of the business of the European Union. While the vote does not give rise to fundamental strategic issues for Defence Forces operations or for Ireland’s continuing engagement within the EU in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), it is expected that Brexit will have an impact on future developments in the Defence sphere.

The structures put in place in the Department of Defence to address the potential challenges arising from Brexit include the assignment of responsibility to a senior official at Assistant Secretary General level in relation to Brexit related matters. The senior official is leading the Department’s input to deliberations within the framework established across Government and is supported in their role by a number of branches in the Department. The senior official represents the Department on the Interdepartmental Group on EU-UK Affairs which is chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach and is engaged with the identification of key strategic, operational and policy issues arising from Brexit. In addition, the Management Board is acting as a clearing house for Brexit and maintains oversight on an ongoing basis.

As the Deputy will also be aware, the Government has adopted a contingency framework to deal with all issues arising in respect of the UK vote to leave the EU. Accordingly, any issues arising, including those within the Defence area, whether bilateral, or in respect of developments in CSDP, or regarding our wider international multilateral defence engagements, will be also addressed within that framework.

As matters relating to Brexit are currently being absorbed and dealt with within already existing Department structures and resources, there is currently no dedicated Brexit funding allocation in the Department of Defence.

As the Deputy is aware the UK triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017 and a meeting of Heads of State and Government is scheduled to take place on 29 April to discuss the UK withdrawal. It is expected that formal negotiations will commence in May or June, once the remaining 27 member States reach consensus on the EU's negotiating position. The negotiations themselves can then be expected to take at least two years to complete and all potential consequences in the defence sphere, arising during the negotiations, will remain the subject of ongoing consideration by my Department throughout this process, including whether there will be a future requirement for a dedicated unit to exclusively handle Brexit related matters.