Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019
163. Deputy James Browne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the plans contained within the document on preparing for withdrawal of the the United Kingdom from the European Union are contingent on a hard Brexit or if these plans will be proceeded with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1245/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government's contingency planning and preparedness for Brexit was initiated well in advance of the UK referendum in June 2016 and since my appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in June 2017 I have overseen a sustained intensification of these efforts.
At its meeting of 11 December the Government agreed, that while work on Brexit preparedness for the central case scenario should continue, in light of ongoing political uncertainties and the Brexit deadline of 29 March 2019, greater immediate priority must now be give to preparations for a no deal Brexit.
Following this, the Government published its Brexit Contingency Action Plan on 19 December 2018 which sets out the analysis of a no deal Brexit and detailed sectoral analyses and approaches to mitigating the impacts of a no deal Brexit. The shift to preparing for a no deal Brexit requires the acceleration of certain measures already identified and underway, the putting in place of possible temporary solutions which can be rapidly implemented and potential crisis response measures.
Accordingly a number of the actions identified in a no deal scenario will still be required even in a central case scenario, including the Withdrawal Agreement with a transition period and the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland and the political declaration on the future relationship, but with a longer timeframe for implementation.
A no deal Brexit would be highly disruptive and would have profound political, economic and legal implications for Ireland, the rest of the EU and, most significantly, for the UK itself. It is not the outcome we want and our focus continues to be on securing ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.
