Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 June 2018
7. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the proposals his Department has in respect of Brexit; the number of staff assigned to Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25722/18]
View answerComing from a west of Ireland constituency that is doing well, no doubt thanks to his own role, I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, is aware of the consequences for employment in rural Ireland of a hard Brexit. They have been well documented to date. There could be negative impacts and consequences for rural industries, especially agriculture, agrifood and processing, which constitute the backbone of employment provision for many thousands of our people in villages and towns across rural Ireland. What steps are being taken to ensure the Government is fully prepared to deal with such an eventuality?
My colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Simon Coveney, has the primary responsibility for leading on Brexit negotiations on behalf of the Government. My Department has been making and will continue to make contributions to Brexit discussions, and is providing policy advice relevant to its remit as and when required.
This Department was established to bring a greater level of co-ordination and cohesion to policies that impact rural Ireland and communities in order to ensure that economic recovery can be felt right across the country. Part of that involves ensuring the potential impacts of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union are mitigated in those communities most likely to be affected by Brexit. Regional and rural businesses face enormous potential challenges on this front, particularly in the Border region, and this is relevant across a number of policy areas of my Department. In this context, considerations around the impact of Brexit are shared across different policy areas, rather than being assigned to a single unit or to dedicated staff. In addition, my role in the Cabinet committee on the economy gives me a specific forum to raise issues for rural Ireland relating to the economy, jobs, the labour market, competitiveness, productivity, trade, the Action Plan on Rural Development, and the digital economy, including managing and mitigating the risks associated with Brexit.
The Minister of State is aware, of course, that regional and rural businesses are extremely vulnerable and susceptible to the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, particularly given how the negotiations are drifting. In the Border region this is particularly pronounced but it is also apparent right across the country. It is extremely difficult to perceive any upside in respect of the current impasse in the negotiations. There is a clearly fractured British Government on one side, whose members are busy negotiating among themselves and cannot get agreement. How can Monsieur Barnier and his team at EU level try to achieve something in that context? It is all in a very precarious balance. A White Paper has not even been furnished by the British side to enable substantive, sustainable or significant negotiations to take place.
There are critical issues that affect the whole of Ireland, such as how to achieve a frictionless and open Border and preserve and protect the principles of the Good Friday Agreement. I am concerned about how far advanced we are. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is leading matters but what input has the Department of Rural and Community Development? Does it have any staff specifically assigned to ensure there is input into all areas and the necessary strategies are formulated and put in place? This is of momentous importance to all our communities.
We have tabled a similar question, No. 24. I support Deputy Penrose in that respect. My question was to ask the Minister if we have contact with the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland around this issue. Swanlinbar in County Cavan is part of my constituency. It is in the same parish as Kinawley across the Border. There is such a movement of people and business; everything that happens crosses the Border. It is just like two townlands beside each other in any part of rural Ireland. There needs to be an emphasis placed by those on both sides of the Border on working with the authorities on both sides to come up with solutions for the people who live in these areas because they are all our people.
Clearly, Ireland wants the closest possible relationship with the UK post Brexit. Everything we are doing is to ensure that happens. We are still of the view that the optimum outcome for the UK is for it to remain part of the Single Market and the customs union. That is a matter for the United Kingdom and it is in the throes of debate on those very issues.
There is detailed work going on across Government in respect of this area. The Deputies contributing now are from the midlands and Border areas. My colleague, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys, has a particular affinity with ensuring that everything possible is done to mitigate the impacts of Brexit on the Border areas. There are ongoing negotiations across all of Government. The Taoiseach paid a very positive visit to Northern Ireland last week, to both sides and traditions, and was well received. There has been ongoing engagement. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, met recently with the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, MP, in respect of agriculture and food.
There are a number of dedicated measures including the €300 million Brexit loan scheme for businesses which was launched in March and increased funding to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation as well as the €25 million Brexit response loan scheme for the agrifood sector and additional supports also for capital investment in the food industry and Bord Bia in terms of marketing and promotion.
We need a very close working relationship. In the context of our exports and imports, there is great interdependence and has been for years. There are people travelling and the common travel area is obviously protected. The relationships are significant and, as Deputy Martin Kenny said, we are intertwined at all levels, even at micro level. I read an interesting article in The Sunday Business Post about Drum, a small area. Fields are straddling the Border. There is no thought given by those hard Brexiteers. One of them was mouthing last week, Boris Johnson. He did not even know and obviously has never visited the area and has no concept of the degree of interdependence. We have it in the agri industry, for example Lakeland and the dairying industry, as well as the pig and sheep industries. There is such a degree of interrelatedness and interoperability. There has to be free flow of goods. Apart altogether from the significance of the Good Friday Agreement and all it entails, mere common sense would dictate that this is critical. North, South, east and west, there has to be free flow. The Minister of State and the Government will have our full support in trying to achieve this.
It is hugely important that everyone in this House is on the one side and, clearly, they are in terms of the necessity of getting the best deal possible in terms of Brexit.
Obviously, it was a decision for the UK. We wished it did not happen but it is the reality that has resulted from the decision made by the UK. There is a team effort from every part of Government to ensure that the best possible deal will be achieved. It is very important that people at senior levels in the UK Government are acutely aware of and visit communities in Northern Ireland. It is certainly not too late. I know there have been some visits but we need to ensure they know about the cross-trade nature, the cross relationships between communities and matters relating to, as Deputy Martin Kenny said, parishes, the number of road crossings and the number of farmers with land on both sides of the Border. There are real issues that are either impacting or could impact on communities, particularly those along the Border, so it is hugely important that we continue the team effort within Government and within this House to ensure that the best possible deal is achieved regarding Brexit.
