Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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76. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if there is a senior official with designated responsibility for Brexit matters in her Department; if so, the grade of the designated official; the funding allocated to the said Brexit unit; the cost to date in 2017; the anticipated cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31276/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The work of very many Business Units is impacted by Brexit and the Department as a whole has prioritised the Brexit challenges in its work plans for 2017 across all its Divisions.

A dedicated Brexit Unit was established in 2016 and is led at Assistant Secretary level within the EU Affairs, Trade Policy and Safety and Chemicals Policy Division, to coordinate and represent the Departmental and Agencies response to Brexit and to support me in my position at the Cabinet

Committee on Brexit. The designated official, at Assistant Secretary level, is supported by 1 Principal, 2 Assistant Principals, 1 Higher Executive Officer and 1 Clerical Officer.  Additional staffing resources are being recruited to support the Brexit Unit, and other areas of the Department impacted by Brexit in the immediate period ahead, on foot of a recently completed workforce planning exercise for the Department in respect of the period 2017-2019.

The full year salary costs for the Brexit Unit, including the additional staffing resources to be recruited, is estimated at approximately €570,000. In addition to this, funding is available to undertake appropriate research, and in light of the substantial programme of visits ongoing and planned at Ministerial and Official level to other capital cities as part of our outreach to our European partners, there will be associated travel and subsistence costs.