Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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110. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions taken by State agencies to make exporters aware of the tariffs that would be payable in the event of a hard Brexit through WTO rules; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33292/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Brexit will undoubtedly have a range of impacts on firms. In terms of a hard Brexit and the application of WTO rules, one must remember that this represents a worst case scenario, which is an outcome whereby no trade deal is reached between the UK and EU. This is just one of a range of potential outcomes and not necessarily the one that we expect will result.

Ireland and our partners in the EU are working hard to achieve the best outcome for citizens and companies.

However, we must continue to prepare for whatever outcome emerges. My Department and the Enterprise Agencies are fully committed to supporting business and all of our stakeholders in this period of heightened uncertainty.

Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs are steadily working with companies to make sure that they are better prepared to respond to the challenges that Brexit will bring.  These are the medium term, strategic actions that I know that companies are calling for – things like helping them to drive down costs, diversify into new markets and innovate in the way they do business.

Enterprise Ireland has been systematically engaging with its 1,500 clients that export to the UK and is providing information and guidance, market diversification support and competitiveness and market development support to help companies prepare for the future trading relationship with the UK.

Enterprise Ireland launched the 'Prepare for Brexit' campaign, which features the SME Scorecard tool.  The Scorecard is an interactive online platform which can be used by all companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit and areas they may need to consider preparing further on in the context of Brexit. EI has also introduced a ‘Be Prepared Grant’ which offers up to €5,000 in funding to support exporting client companies develop a Brexit Action Plan. The 'Prepare for Brexit' campaign aims to encourage more SMEs to prepare for Brexit and start putting in place detailed plans to mitigate risks and leverage opportunities that may arise, now that Brexit negotiations have begun.

My Department has funded a research project commissioned by InterTrade Ireland and undertaken by the ESRI to improve our understanding of the impact on cross border trade of different trade and tariff regimes which might be imposed following Brexit. The report based on this research has recently been published and provides useful data on the extent and concentration of cross border trade, including information on this trade by product and firm types and barriers to trade. It provides an evidence-based analysis of the factual, worst-case scenario, using robust data.  

The application of WTO tariffs, post Brexit, in the absence of a wider UK-EU trade deal could have far reaching implications.  With regard to North-South trade in particular, the impact could be significant, as one sixth of exports by SME in the Republic of Ireland go to Northern Ireland and two thirds of exports by Northern Irish SMEs go to the Republic of Ireland.

Of the 5,000 individual products that are listed with the WTO, the tariffs applied by the EU on non-members without a specific trade deal range from 0% to over 80%.  As a result, a WTO arrangement would impact trade quite differently depending on the trade structure and this is why it is so important to provide a focused analysis of the cross-border trade flows. 

Findings such as those contained in the ITI study, therefore, accentuate the need ultimately for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the EU and the UK in the future – this is a shared ambition of the Irish Government, the EU and the UK.

My Department has provided financial assistance to InterTrade Ireland to provide a range of additional services to SMEs trading across the border, to help them to prepare for Brexit.  This includes advising companies of the tariff applicable to individual products, which enables companies to plan accordingly.  As the specific tariffs applicable to products even within broad product ranges can vary considerably, this is a valuable service for such exporters.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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111. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the threats identified by her Department for importers in the context of Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33299/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In advance of the Referendum my Department conducted a contingency risk assessment of the potential impacts of Brexit across policy areas of my Department. We have refined our analysis post-Referendum and we have been working with Agencies to put in place actions to mitigate risks and maximize opportunities.

More specifically, we have a number of streams of work underway which will address the threats to importers.

My Department has funded a research project commissioned by InterTrade Ireland to improve our understanding of the impact on cross border trade of different trade and tariff regimes which might be imposed following Brexit. This research provides useful data on the extent and concentration of cross border trade, including information on this trade by product and firm types and barriers to trade. A report based on this research was recently published while further, more detailed research on cross-border trade continues.

My Department is also currently undertaking research to examine the implications for the most exposed enterprise sectors - in terms of trading and economic relationships - of a range of scenarios including that of the UK being outside of the European Single Market and Customs Union. This research will inform an assessment of the way in which Brexit will affect individual sectors of the economy. The wholesale and retails sector is the largest private sector employer in Ireland and is very exposed to the impact of Brexit, particularly in terms of imports. Reflecting this, the retail sector is one of the sectors included in this study.

As part of another major study, my Department is profiling the composition of trade and investment for Ireland and a range of EU Member States with the UK - this will provide an evidence base to inform Ireland's policy positions as part of the wider negotiation on the UK's future relationship with the EU. The impact on imports will be considered as part of this exercise.

As I mentioned, the retail sector is particularly impacted by Brexit – especially as a result of the large proportion of imports sourced through and from the UK.  My Department  convenes quarterly meetings of the Retail Consultation Forum to hear the sectors concerns and to work together on finding practical solutions to the key issues faced by the sector. Brexit has been placed as a standing item on the agenda of the Retail Forum. A range of retail representative bodies have been included in stakeholder engagements organised by my Brexit unit, and are included in the membership of the Department’s Enterprise Forum on Brexit and Global Challenges.