Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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189. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the preparations made in his Department in the event of no agreement being reached between the United Kingdom and the European Union on the terms of the UK's exit from the EU; if such preparations involve the drawing up of detailed and specific contingency plans in the event of a hard Brexit and a trade regime based on WTO tariffs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48775/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has responsibility for coordinating the whole-of-Government response to Brexit. In this capacity, he is working closely with colleagues across Government to address the many challenges resulting from Brexit. This cooperation also involves the relevant State Agencies.

Work at Cabinet level is being supported by cross-Departmental coordination structures through which all relevant Departments are providing their research, analysis and overall policy input to the Government’s wider response to Brexit, including its priorities for the ongoing Article 50 negotiations between the EU and the UK.

As the outcome of the negotiations is not yet known, an important focus of the planning and preparation being undertaken through these structures is on deepening the Government’s analysis and understanding of the exact consequences of a range of different possible scenarios, including a hard Brexit. This represents an intensification of efforts to build on the Government‘s contingency planning framework, to which my own Department contributed fully on the preparation of the education components. 

Our work has been facilitated by the International Unit of my Department which, under the leadership of a Deputy Secretary General, has been given overall responsibility for co-ordinating our response to Brexit.  In discharging its Brexit-related functions, the International Unit participates in the Inter-Departmental Senior Officials Group which oversees the coordination of the Government’s response to the outcome of the UK referendum, and supports the Cabinet Committee on the European Union including Brexit.  This is further underpinned by the Unit's active engagement with other Departments in Brexit Workgroups on Brexit Coordination; the Economy and Sectoral Issues; the Common Travel Area; and the Island of Ireland Working Group.

The Unit also chairs the Education and Research Subgroup under the Economy and Sectoral Issues strand of co-ordination. The Subgroup includes relevant areas within the Department and relevant Agencies of the Department and other Departments/Agencies.  Meetings of the Education and Research Subgroup of the Economy and Trade Group took place on 28 October 2016, 15 February; 24 May and 9 October 2017 and most recently focused on stakeholder consultations input and research collaboration.

My Department also works closely with the Higher Education Authority in Brexit planning for the higher education sector.  The HEA has published a Brexit issues paper and has held meetings with the HEIs to discuss ongoing planning and issues with them as the process develops.  We will continue to engage in this important aspect of planning and research work.

It is my priority to continue to engage actively on a number of fronts in dealing with the impact of Brexit on the Education sector. Consultation has been fundamental to my Department’s preparations for Brexit. We have consulted extensively with our stakeholders. Between December 2016 and January 2017 both I and Minister of State Halligan have led consultations with stakeholders from right across the higher education, further education and training; and primary and post-primary education sectors. More recently, on 3 July 2017, the Tánaiste, and Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Frances Fitzgerald TD, and I co-hosted a joint stakeholder dialogue on enterprise skills needs and Brexit. The outputs from these events have been made publicly available. A further joint stakeholder dialogue on research and innovation with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation is due to take place on 5th December 2017. 

All risks and challenges are being factored in to my Department’s overall approach to future discussions and negotiations and our input to Government's preparations for EU-UK negotiations including the finalisation of our sectoral response plan. Both I and my Department will continue to consult with the sector interests as necessary through the period ahead.

I have attached particular importance to engagement at political and institutional level on our Brexit agenda.  I have met counterparts Peter Weir and Simon Hamilton of the NI Executive, and the UK’s Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening. Meetings were also held with the former Minister of State for Exiting the EU, David Jones, the UK’s Opposition Spokesperson on Brexit, Keir Starmer, as well as members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Irish in Britain. Meetings have also taken place with Ministers from other EU Member States and with representatives of the EU Commission including Commissioner Navracsics.

All of this work is ongoing and must also respond to the emerging developments in the Brexit negotiations. My Department will work to ensure appropriate timely inputs to the current negotiations including the work of the Barnier taskforce. To that end we will keep under review the need for research and analysis of specific areas or issues that can inform these inputs.

There may also be opportunities to increase the numbers of international students choosing Ireland in the wake of Brexit and this is factored into the implementation work underway led by my Department, working with the sector, in the delivery of the actions in the International Education Strategy 2016-2020.

I will keep under review the necessity for further allocations of funds as circumstances develop.