Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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77. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on whether Brexit will have a positive impact on any policy area or sector under the remit of his Department; and if the details of same will be provided. [37181/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Brexit poses an unprecedented challenge for Ireland.  Failure to reach agreement on a trade deal will be very damaging all round but even with a trade deal in place, there will be substantial challenges for supply chains and trade flows.  From 1 January 2021, every time Irish companies or individuals import from or export to Great Britain they will need, at a minimum, to complete a customs declaration.

In the absence of a trade deal, we will see the introduction of tariffs and quotas on trade, in both directions, on top of the customs checks and controls.  These impacts will apply across all sectors and it is, therefore, difficult to identify positives for any policy or sectoral issue under my remit.

Regardless of the outcome of the ongoing negotiations, significant and lasting changes will arise from 1 January 2021.  On that basis, the Government published an updated Brexit Readiness Action Plan on 9 September.A focus of the campaign has been on drawing the attention of businesses to the changes that will arise in moving goods from the end of the transition period.  Additional sector-specific messages are also being communicated.  In that regard, my Department held the latest of a series of engagements with the construction sector on 4 November, to highlight the changes that will apply in respect of construction products.  We have published an FAQ document, available at: