Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2017
291. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if a senior official has been designated with responsibility for Brexit matters in his Department; if so, the grade of the designated official; the funding allocated to the said Brexit unit; the cost to date in 2017; the anticipated cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31277/17]
View answerThe International Policy Division within my Department has been assigned responsibility for coordinating the Department's work as it relates to matters concerning UK withdrawal from the EU. The Division is headed-up by an Assistant Secretary and comprises a team in Dublin and a team based in the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU in Brussels, currently consisting of twelve Officers. This figure includes an additional post to the Permanent Representation to support the Brussels based aspects of the forthcoming negotiations which was filled on 3 July 2017.
Complementing this, six senior officers from each of the key areas in the Department (who are in turn supported by relevant staff) have been selected to make up a cross Divisional working group to focus on the key negotiating issues.
The possibility that additional staffing resources may be required to work on Brexit related issues has been flagged in the Department’s Workforce Plan. This is being kept under review and weekly progress updates are provided to the Department's Management Board on the analysis and preparations underway. Costs incurred are being met from the Department's overall budget, and those related specifically to Brexit cannot be readily extracted from overall ongoing work in the Department.
