Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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115. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding the development of sectorial response plans to Brexit; the publication date of these plans; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33342/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union will have a significant impact on our economy. It is essential that we understand these impacts, positive and negative, on the entire economy, across all policy areas of my Department, and at a sectoral level.

Following on from publication of the document setting out the Government's approach to the Brexit negotiations, work is underway across departments to prepare adaptive Sectoral Brexit Response Plans to mitigate emerging sectoral challenges. These plans will build on ongoing cross-Government research, analysis and consultations with stakeholders, and will encompass the following themes:

- Sustainable fiscal policies to ensure capacity to absorb and respond to economic shocks, not least from Brexit;

- Policies to make Irish enterprise more resilient, to diversify trade, to promote investment and innovation patterns, and to strengthen competitiveness;

- Prioritising policy measures and dedicating resources to protect jobs and businesses in the sectors and regions most affected by Brexit;

- Realising economic opportunities arising from Brexit, and helping businesses adjust to any new logistical or trade barriers arising;

- Making a strong case at EU level that Ireland will require support that recognises

- where Brexit represents a serious disturbance to the Irish economy.

Within my own Department, a risk assessment of the potential impacts of Brexit across policy areas which has fed into the national level assessment led by the Department of Taoiseach was conducted following the referendum result. My Department has since been working with enterprise development agencies to mitigate risks and maximize opportunities.

With regard to impacts at a sectoral level a range of work has been done or is underway including:

- There have been a number of useful studies published which set out the potential impacts of Brexit, including sectoral assessments (e.g. tourism, agri-food), and many of these are listed on merrionstreet.ie website;

- My Department published the findings of a survey of 1,045 SME business owners and has set out a number of actions being developed to support SMEs in responding to the challenges of Brexit.

- My Department 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. The research, conducted by ESRI, which was recently published 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;

- My Department is currently undertaking research to examine the implications for the most exposed enterprise sectors - in terms of trading and economic relationships - 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.

- In addition we are 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.

Brexit and the changing global trading environment were significant considerations in drawing up the 2017 Action Plan for Jobs. This year’s plan is at the core of the government’s response to the huge challenge these pose for businesses - to make sure our enterprise base is resilient in the face of changes to come. This was reflected in the 10 percent increase secured by my Department in this year's capital allocation. Finally, we will also, in the context of Budget 2018, seek to secure the necessary additional resources required to put in place more supports for companies most impacted by Brexit.