Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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260. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade 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 in 2017; the anticipated cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31274/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Additional capabilities and resources have been assigned across my Department to address issues arising from the complex process of the UK exit from the EU. At Headquarters the key Divisions are the European Union Division and the Ireland, UK and Americas (IUKA) Division. Both divisions are headed at Second Secretary General level and both have been assigned additional resources. The European Union Division contains a dedicated team focused exclusively on the EU-UK negotiations, led by a senior officer at Counsellor level. Within the IUKA Division, there is a Brexit-specific policy co-ordination function in place and there are teams focused on Northern Ireland and on wider British-Irish Relations; their duties include Brexit related issues.

Many business units of the Department at its headquarters in Dublin are involved as part of the strategic response to the UK exit and staff numbers have been augmented, for example in the Legal Division, the Trade Division and the Policy Planning Unit. Ireland’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels will also play a key role. Resources for the Permanent Representation have therefore been reinforced along with increased resources for our Embassies in Berlin, Paris and London.

It is clear that these exit negotiations will be complex and intensive. To support the negotiation process, my Department received an additional €3.2 million as part of the 2017 allocation. This facilitated the transfer back to my Department from the Department of the Taoiseach of 14 staff to a new, enlarged European Union Division.

The Department has also allocated an additional budget of €2 million. This budget will be used to increase the number of staff assigned to the management and support of the negotiations and to increase the level of support provided to our colleagues across all Government Departments and agencies.

The measures my Department put in place to manage the initial phase of our response to the UK decision to leave the EU remain under review. The Department may require additional staff resources if it is deemed necessary to further augment our level of support across Government and across our network.