Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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505. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the provisions that have been made to protect farms that straddle the Border with Northern Ireland for all Brexit scenarios; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47954/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Brexit has the potential to have a very significant impact on farmers and on the agri-food sector throughout Ireland, including farmers whose farms straddle the Border with Northern Ireland.

As the Deputy will be aware, the agri-food sector is of critical importance to the Irish economy, and its regional spread means that it underpins the socio-economic development of rural Ireland, and of the border region in particular.

The primary means through which the Government is seeking to minimise the impact of Brexit is through the negotiated outcome. In a border context the UK commitment in the Joint EU-UK Report of last December to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland was extremely important.

At the Government’s insistence this commitment has now been translated into legal form in the draft of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement fully achieves the objective of avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland in any circumstances. Crucially, Prime Minister May and her cabinet have indicated that the draft text of the Withdrawal Agreement is an acceptable basis on which to proceed.

I, and my Department, have been contributing actively to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - coordinated ‘whole of government’ approach, as well as engaging intensively with our EU counterparts and the European Commission Task Force, to achieve this progress.

Additionally, the Government has introduced a range of measures to deal with the short-term impacts of Brexit that will help protect farmers whose farms straddle the border with Northern Ireland. My Department introduced a €150 million low-cost loan scheme, new agri-taxation measures and increased funding under the Rural Development and Seafood Development Programmes in the 2017 Budget. In Budget 2018 I, along with my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Business and Innovation, introduced a new €300m “Brexit Loan Scheme” to provide affordable, flexible financing to Irish businesses that are either currently impacted by Brexit or who will be in the future - at least 40% of which will be available to food businesses. In Budget 2019 I made available a Brexit resilience package of €78m. This included a range of measures to support farmers and industry including an increased allocation for farms in areas of natural constraint, the introduction of a Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot Scheme, and additional funding for the horticulture sector.

To better address the long-term impacts of Brexit and to aid Market Diversification, my Department is supporting Bord Bia in its investment in market insight (through its ‘Thinking House’) and in market prioritisation initiatives which are aimed at identifying and developing potential diversification opportunities. To that end funding to Bord Bia has increased by €14.5m since the UK referendum. As regards Product Diversification, I have provided Teagasc with €8m for the development of a new National Food Innovation Hub in Fermoy. This Hub offers agri-food businesses the opportunity to engage in research activities in an affordable way.

I wish to assure the Deputy that the Government remains very focused on supporting farmers and the agri-food industry through the challenges ahead, whether they are based in the border region or in any other part of the country. Although the draft Withdrawal Agreement is a major step in the negotiations, further steps will be needed. The Government has been, and will continue to be, firm in arguing that any agreement reached between the EU and the UK must take account of the very serious challenges presented by Brexit for the sector, particularly given the unique circumstances along the border and the importance of our economic relationship with the UK. And, of course, ultimately Ireland's objective in the negotiations is to have a future trading relationship with the UK which is as close as possible to the current arrangements.