merrion street

The Government today received a further update on whole-of-Government contingency preparations for a no deal Brexit scenario. The Tánaiste briefed on intensive work that has taken place across Departments and Agencies to take further steps to implement the Contingency Action Plan published in December.  

While ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement remains the Government's preferred outcome, the Government is continuing to prepare for a no deal scenario.  It will be impossible to fully mitigate for a no deal Brexit scenario; our preparation work is an exercise in damage limitation. A no deal Brexit would have profound impacts for Ireland.

As part of a detailed discussion, some key areas were underlined:

• Omnibus Brexit Bill – this week in the Dáil, 9 Ministers will debate every element of the Bill, line-by-line. The Bill, and the list of 21 pieces of secondary legislation also published today, is designed to support and assist Irish citizens and business to mitigate the worst effects of a no deal Brexit. Proposed secondary legislation ranges across issues and sectors from health and social protection to VAT and making provision for EU contingency regulations.

• The Government is committed to maintaining the Common Travel Area, and to providing for all legislative measures necessary to do so, in all circumstances.  The provisions of the Omnibus Bill, across a number of areas ensure that these legislative measures will be implemented in Ireland in a no deal scenario.  Today the Government also finalised the remaining domestic decisions necessary to conclude the Common Travel Area arrangements. This paves the way to make arrangements with the UK for final agreement between the Irish and British Governments on this priority issue.

• The Minister for Finance gave the Cabinet an initial update on a further assessment of the economic impact of Brexit completed by the Department of Finance with the ESRI.   The full detail of this assessment will be published jointly with the ESRI next week.  

• The Government was also updated on key work that has been advanced to prepare our ports and airports including:
  • Work on temporary infrastructure at Dublin and Rosslare ports is well underway;
  • By the end of March, Revenue will have over 400 additional staff trained and in place, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will have over 200 additional staff trained and in place, and the Department of Health will have at least 59 additional staff trained and in place;
  • Enhanced IT systems will be in place to handle increased transaction levels (customs declarations are expected to increase from 1.7m annually to around 20m);
  • Revenue has undertaken an extensive trader outreach programme, reaching over 80,000 businesses since December.

The Government also was updated on the ongoing communications work to inform citizens and businesses on how to prepare for a no deal Brexit. Ministers updated cabinet on their recent stakeholder engagement including last week’s meetings with opposition leaders, business, agriculture and food, and regulatory bodies. 

Last week gov.ie/Brexit went live which includes a range of practical step-by step advice on how businesses and citizens can continue to prepare for Brexit.

Notes to Editors:

Secondary Legislation

As set out in the Government’s Contingency Action Plan and in the Update published on 30 January 2019, work has progressed in parallel to the Brexit Omnibus Bill on the required secondary legislation. 

Today Government noted the 21 issues where secondary legislation is required in a no deal scenario.  Following detailed engagement by each Department on its areas of responsibility with the Attorney General’s Office, 21 statutory instruments will be ready to be enacted before 29 March in a no deal scenario. 

In general, statutory instruments will be required to give more detailed effect to some proposals in the Brexit Omnibus Bill, including the Common Travel area.  They are also required in the case of certain contingency measures agreed at EU level and some work being progressed at national level.  Statutory instruments will also be necessary to facilitate recognition of certain qualifications when the UK’s legal status changes to that of a third country. 

The full list (see below) includes statutory instruments to give effect to the Common Travel Area arrangements, in the areas of Health and Social Protection.  Similar secondary provisions are proposed in relation to the Omnibus Bill provisions on VAT, including on deferred VAT accounting, a significant business support measure.   The proposed order in the area of extradition is also necessary to give practical effect to the contingency approach to extradition proposed in the Omnibus Bill. 

The list of secondary legislation also includes certain areas where contingency measures have been agreed at EU level (such as vehicle type approval, dual use export authorisations and clearance of uncertificated securities) and may need a legislative base to be brought into effect in Ireland.  When the UK becomes a third country, animal plant and food products arriving by ferry will need to be notified in advance of their arrival in Ireland, and new regulations will provide for this in a no deal scenario.  Secondary legislation will also provide support to contingency measures being progressed at a national level, including for example the development of new infrastructure at ports and airports.

The third main area in which secondary legislation is required in a no deal scenario is to facilitate recognition of qualifications when the UK becomes a third country.  This is reflected in the regulations proposed, for example, on recognition of ‘Safepass’ for construction workers, and solicitor qualifications. 

List of secondary legislation ready to be enacted before 29 March[1] in a no deal scenario

Next steps for the Omnibus Bill

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney TD, is the lead Minister for the overall Bill.  While Committee Stage is usually taken by the relevant sectoral committee, given the very wide range of issues in the omnibus Bill, ranging across the remits of nine Government Departments and almost as many Oireachtas Committees, it has been agreed that Committee Stage will be taken on the floor of the House where all sectoral spokespersons and Deputies can participate. 

The Chief Whip, Sean Kyne TD, has liaised closely with the Business Committee of Dáil Éireann (Chaired by the Ceann Comhairle with membership from all parties and Groups) on how this exceptional omnibus Bill will be best progressed through the House.   A total of 74 amendments have been proposed on the Bill, and the Ceann Comhairle will rule on which amendments are in order for discussion at the start of the Committee Stage Debate this evening.  Ministers will deal with questions arising on their specific Parts of the Bill on a line by line basis over about 25 hours in total in the Dáil this week. 

Given the scale and breadth of the General Scheme of the Miscellaneous Provisions (Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 29 March 2019) Bill 2019, the overall process of drafting and progression of the Bill is being coordinated by a special Senior Official’s Group (SOG) made up of officials from all Departments with Parts in the scheme. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel to the Government attends and advises the Group along with Advisory Counsel in the Attorney General’s Office. The SOG is co-chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Taoiseach.

Government Contingency Action Plan:

https://merrionstreet.ie/MerrionStreet/en/News-Room/Releases/No_Deal_Brexit_Contingency_Plan.pdf

For more information about the Common Travel Area see:

https://www.dfa.ie/brexit/getting-ireland-brexit-ready/brexit-and-you/common-travel-area/

Communications: Further practical advice published

The Government has recently published a further range of practical advice to help businesses and citizens around the country to prepare for Brexit.

Given the wide range of issues that are impacted by Brexit, this new information works to help guide businesses and citizens on the first steps they need to take to deal with Brexit.

This latest information is hosted on the Government’s main website at gov.ie/brexit.

[1] Further matters that may require secondary legislation are subject to ongoing engagement between Departments and the Office of the Attorney General