Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

301. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of meetings he has attended since the beginning of September 2018 with his officials to discuss and prepare for Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3600/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government’s contingency planning for Brexit was initiated well in advance of the UK referendum in June 2016 and has intensified in recent months.

To this end, co-ordination of the whole-of-Government response to Brexit is being taken forward through the cross-Departmental coordination structures chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  These include meetings of various groups on a weekly and fortnightly basis as well as a range of ongoing meetings with individual Departments across the range of sectors.

In my own Department, I have multiple engagements with the Secretary General every week to discuss Government business and the main business priorities of the Department, which would include regular discussions on Brexit.

In addition, a working group of senior officials within the Department is in place to coordinate the Department’s Brexit planning.  Brexit is a standing agenda item at the monthly Ministerial Management Board meetings and at weekly meetings of the Department's Management Board.

Preparation and planning is ongoing across Government to address a range of Brexit scenarios, including a ‘no deal’ scenario, and Departments and agencies continue to develop and implement, as appropriate, Brexit preparedness and contingency planning in their areas of responsibility.