Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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1901. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the threats identified by her Department with regard to the responsibilities of her Department as a result of no deal being reached in Brexit negotiations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26898/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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On 2nd May, the Government published a comprehensive document on Ireland and the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This document sets out the approach of the Government to the forthcoming negotiations, following the successful campaign to have key Irish issues recognised in the EU negotiation position.

Following on from this publication, work is underway to prepare a further paper on economic implications of the Brexit challenge. This will draw on the work to date across Departments, which will be developed to mitigate emerging sectorial challenges. These plans will build on ongoing cross-Government research, analysis and consultations with stakeholders, and will reflect the core economic themes of the Taoiseach's speech to the IIEA on 15 February last.Ireland’s economic interests lie firmly in a strong and well-functioning EU with continued and unfettered access to the single market. There is a lot of negotiation to be done around trading arrangements. Our contingency work is examining all scenarios and we cannot pre-empt the outcome at this stage. We are not under any illusions about the complexity of these negotiations and are engaged in detailed planning to prepare for these.

In January of this year, I hosted a sectorial dialogue with children, young people and key stakeholders in Croke Park at which the views of all interested parties were captured. Since then, the Advisory Council to Better Outcomes Brighter Futures; the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2014 - 2020has considered the report of the event and work is ongoing in relation to the more detailed implications of Brexit. Furthermore, matters in relation to Brexit were discussed by over 100 children and young people in April of this year as part of the annual regional Comhairle na nÓg Networking events. This has enabled my Department to table those issues which may impact on children and young people, post-Brexit, and indeed identify those issues which resonate most strongly with our youngest citizens. However, it must be stated that such matters are subsets of much larger items which will be considered, in the main, in conjunction with colleagues in the Departments of Finance, Justice and Equality, Education and Health as part of the wider negotiating process.