Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 October 2018
130. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the moneys allocated in budget 2019 to his Department for Brexit related matters; the way in which these moneys will be spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42251/18]
View answerBudget 2019, published last week, continues the process of ensuring that Ireland’s economy remains competitive and resilient and ready to deal with the challenges of Brexit.
In my Department, an additional €18 million has been allocated, primarily for Brexit-related expenditure, in 2019 under Vote 28. Having already posted additional senior personnel to Berlin, Paris, London and Brussels, this will enable us to continue to strengthen our teams in other key EU capitals including The Hague, Warsaw, Madrid and Rome, as well as other parts of our European network.
Further funding is being earmarked for the Passport Service, which has seen a notable increase in demand for Irish passports from Irish citizens in Northern Ireland and Great Britain since the UK voted to leave the EU. Over 20% of total passport applications for 2017 came from these jurisdictions with more than 82,000 applications being received from Northern Ireland and almost 81,000 from Great Britain. This represented increases of 20% and 28% respectively on 2016 applications.
Additional funding is also being made available to support essential reconciliation work being carried out by civil society in Northern Ireland and across the island of Ireland – work that is more urgent because of Brexit and the continuing absence of a Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly.
Our Vote 28 allocation will also help us to begin delivering on our ‘Global Ireland’ vision of an expanded international footprint for the post-Brexit world. This expanded presence will extend our support to Irish businesses in search of new markets.
That’s why we will be opening offices in Mumbai, Frankfurt and LA, and new embassies in Chile and Colombia in 2019. It will also help us sustain close relations across the UK after Brexit, with a new Consulate in Cardiff next year.
In 2019 we will also take forward work on a new Embassy and Ireland House in Tokyo that will project the very best Ireland has to offer in one location. This is a major development, one of the most complex that we have ever undertaken overseas and a signal of the potential and opportunities that we can tap into in the Irish-Japanese relationship.
This strengthened support for trade diversification is a crucial component to our Brexit response. In 2019, this will also include stepped-up preparations for Expo 2020 in Dubai - a major platform for Ireland internationally in a region with huge trade and investment potential for Ireland.
Finally, the Government’s Getting Ireland Brexit Ready public information campaign is an important ongoing whole of Government initiative in helping prepare citizens and businesses for Brexit. As part of this wider campaign, the Government is organising “Getting Ireland Brexit Ready” public outreach events around Ireland.
The inaugural event was held in Cork on Friday, 5 October, with last Friday’s event held in Galway. Two further events will take place over the coming weeks in Monaghan, on 19 October, and Dublin, on 25 October.
The events bring together a dozen Agencies and their parent Departments – the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport - under one roof to inform and advise citizens and businesses about Brexit preparedness and the range of support measures and resources the Government has put in place.
