Micheál Martin
Question:106. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the role his Department is playing in preparing for a hard Brexit. [14282/19]
View answerTuesday, 16 April 2019
Questions (106)
Written answers
My Department works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has overall responsibility for Brexit.
A comprehensive set of Government structures has been put in place to ensure that all Departments and their agencies are engaged in detailed preparedness and contingency activities.
Within my Department, staff across several divisions contribute to the work on Brexit.
Brexit is a core part of the work of the International, EU and Northern Ireland Division, which is headed by a Second Secretary General who also acts as Irish Sherpa for EU business, including Brexit issues. The Division advises me in my role as member of European Council, and in respect of Government consideration of Brexit issues, including negotiations, as well as Northern Ireland affairs and British-Irish relations.
The Economic Division of my Department advises me in the development and implementation of national and sectoral economic policies to ensure economy is well placed to respond to opportunities and threats, including Brexit.
To augment this ongoing work, my Department also has a dedicated unit on Brexit preparedness and contingency planning. This unit, working closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, assists several groups that oversee Brexit preparations and contingency planning, and focuses on cross-Government co-ordination, planning and programme management.
The unit provides assistance to a Secretaries General group, chaired by the Secretary General to the Government, which has been meeting weekly to oversee ongoing work on national Brexit preparedness and contingency planning.
The unit also assists a Senior Officials Group of Assistant Secretaries on no-deal Brexit planning, which has been meeting on a regular basis and focussing on planning for a no-deal scenario based on the Government’s Contingency Action Plan.
My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, also jointly chairs a Senior Officials Group on Brexit-related legislation, which oversaw development of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019, signed into law by the President on 17 March. Work is continuing in parallel on complementary secondary legislation.
The decision of the European Council to extend Article 50 prevented a no-deal Brexit on 12 April and has significantly reduced the overall risk of no deal. However, given the ongoing political uncertainty in London, that risk has not been fully averted, and prudent preparations by Government for all possible scenarios will continue.