Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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251. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current contingency measures in place for farmers and the agrifood sector in the event of a no-deal Brexit; the financial packages that will be put in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35667/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's Brexit preparedness work has resulted in various supports being introduced over successive budgets to help the agri-food and fisheries sectors mitigate the impact of Brexit. These include supports in the form of direct aid, as well as the provision of low-cost loans such as the €300 million Future Growth Loan Scheme. In addition, in 2019, my Department introduced the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) in recognition of a very difficult year for the beef sector and a prolonged period of price uncertainty caused by various factors, including Brexit.

All of the impacts of Brexit on the agri-food sector and on the farming community are, of course, kept under ongoing review. In this regard, the Government's Brexit Readiness Action Plan, published in September, confirmed that further measures to support affected sectors would be considered over the coming months. Accordingly, Budget 2021 provides an overall contingency fund of €3.4 billion to address the twin challenges of Brexit and Covid 19.

I also welcome the Multi-Annual Financial Framework agreement reached in July by EU Heads of State and Government, which includes a €5 Billion Brexit Adjustment Reserve for those Member States and sectors most affected by Brexit. We will work to ensure that the agri-food sector gets an adequate allocation from that funding.