Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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106. To ask the Taoiseach the role his Department is playing in preparing for a hard Brexit. [14282/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has overall responsibility for Brexit.

A comprehensive set of Government structures has been put in place to ensure that all Departments and their agencies are engaged in detailed preparedness and contingency activities.

Within my Department, staff across several divisions contribute to the work on Brexit.

Brexit is a core part of the work of the International, EU and Northern Ireland Division, which is headed by a Second Secretary General who also acts as Irish Sherpa for EU business, including Brexit issues. The Division advises me in my role as member of European Council, and in respect of Government consideration of Brexit issues, including negotiations, as well as Northern Ireland affairs and British-Irish relations.

The Economic Division of my Department advises me in the development and implementation of national and sectoral economic policies to ensure economy is well placed to respond to opportunities and threats, including Brexit.

To augment this ongoing work, my Department also has a dedicated unit on Brexit preparedness and contingency planning. This unit, working closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, assists several groups that oversee Brexit preparations and contingency planning, and focuses on cross-Government co-ordination, planning and programme management.

The unit provides assistance to a Secretaries General group, chaired by the Secretary General to the Government, which has been meeting weekly to oversee ongoing work on national Brexit preparedness and contingency planning.

The unit also assists a Senior Officials Group of Assistant Secretaries on no-deal Brexit planning, which has been meeting on a regular basis and focussing on planning for a no-deal scenario based on the Government’s Contingency Action Plan.

My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, also jointly chairs a Senior Officials Group on Brexit-related legislation, which oversaw development of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019, signed into law by the President on 17 March. Work is continuing in parallel on complementary secondary legislation.

The decision of the European Council to extend Article 50 prevented a no-deal Brexit on 12 April and has significantly reduced the overall risk of no deal. However, given the ongoing political uncertainty in London, that risk has not been fully averted, and prudent preparations by Government for all possible scenarios will continue.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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107. To ask the Taoiseach the details of the way in which Northern Ireland will be treated differently post Brexit in view of his comments in Dáil Éireann on 27 March 2019 on same; if he has spoken with Prime Minister May since then; and if his or other officials have been in further discussions on contingency plans. [15378/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I last saw Prime Minister May on the margins of the Special European Council meeting on 10 April. I had spoken to Prime Minister May by phone on the evening of 8 April, when we discussed her letter to Donald Tusk seeking an extension of the Article 50 deadline, and preparations for the European Council Summit on Wednesday 10 April. I repeated to PM May my openness to an extension of the Article 50 deadline.

I welcome the agreement reached between the EU 27 and UK on the Brexit extension. I firmly believe that the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons is in all our interests, and I hope the time extension will enable the deal to be agreed.

I continue to believe that approval of the Withdrawal Agreement is the best way to protect the Good Friday Agreement and to avoid a hard border. I was pleased to have the continued backing of my fellow European Council members on this objective.

We have been working closely with the European Commission and our EU partners to mitigate against the negative impact on our trade and economy, including through the development of contingency arrangements for the management of trade flows on the island of Ireland.

As the Government has repeatedly stated, this is based on the twin shared objectives of protecting the Good Friday Agreement and ensuring the integrity of the Single Market and Ireland’s place within it. As co-guarantors, the British and Irish Governments will continue to have obligations to ensure peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

The decision of the European Council to extend Article 50 prevented a no-deal Brexit on 12 April. However, while the risk of a no-deal Brexit has significantly reduced, it unfortunately has not been fully averted and preparations by Government for all possible scenarios are therefore continuing.

The Government’s Contingency Action Plan, published on 19 December 2018 and updated on 30 January 2019, sets out cross-Government preparations in train since even before the UK vote.

A comprehensive set of Government structures is in place to ensure that all Departments and their agencies are engaged in detailed preparedness and contingency activities. Sector-specific plans are in place identifying important challenges associated with a no-deal Brexit and accompanying mitigation approaches.

Our preparedness and contingency planning takes full account of, and complements preparation at EU level for a no-deal Brexit, which have been ongoing since December 2017. Irish and British officials are in close ongoing contact on all relevant issues