Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2017
1330. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of staff deployed full time in his Department in respect of Brexit; if there is a designated section or unit to deal with Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38000/17]
View answerFollowing the UK referendum in June 2016, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine established a dedicated Brexit Co-ordination Unit within its EU & International Trade Division. This Unit now forms part of a new Brexit & International Trade Division. It comprises eight staff working full-time on the co-ordination of Brexit issues, including a full-time Head of Division, who in turn reports to an Assistant Secretary General deeply engaged in Brexit issues in addition to discharging other responsibilities. Its work is complementary to that of the Market Access Unit and that of other divisions in the department dealing with trade related issues.
The Unit co-ordinates the ongoing analysis, consultation and engagement activities being undertaken by a large number of administrative, technical and veterinary staff, through an internal Brexit Response Committee comprised of 16 people drawn from the wide range of Divisions affected by Brexit (including, for example, Meat and Milk Policy, Animal Health and Welfare, Food Industry Development, Economics and Planning, and Seafood Policy and Development). It also feeds into the whole-of-Government co-ordination being undertaken by the Department of the Taoiseach.
In overall terms, my Department is continuing to monitor the future workforce needs of both the Department and the Brexit Unit, and will be keeping resource allocations under close review as the negotiations proceed.
