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Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday, Charlie McConalogue, Fianna Fáil spokesman for agriculture, said that Ireland needs a minister for coordinating the efforts of the Irish Government in dealing with the fallout from Britain’s exit from the EU.
“I think we need a minister for Brexit,” he said.
Alluding to Kenny’s recent comments that Brexit is “far too serious a matter to be hived off to a section of a department”, McConalogue said, adding that “there is no doubt it goes across all Departments” but there needs to be someone with a coordination role to pull all the efforts of each department in Government together.
“If you look at what the UK has done, they have appointed two or three different ministers with very specific roles in relation to how Brexit is coordinated and the response to it,” he said.
There should be a similar coordination role and responsibility given to a minister in the Irish Government
“I think there should be a similar coordination role and responsibility given to a minister in the Irish Government who will work with all the departments affected by it and pull it all together.”
McConalogue added that “every other minister, especially our Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed, is going to have to step up to the mark and operate at full capacity” in terms of dealing with the challenges.
“But I think it would assist if responsibility was given to a minister at cabinet level as well to coordinate the response,” he said.
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has previously described the suggestion as “naïve”, saying Brexit is a “whole Government issue”.
Brexit and agriculture
Bord Bia figures show that Irish food and drink exports to the UK accounted for 41% of total exports in 2015, valued at €4.4bn. This was an increase of 7% on the previous year. As such, the exposure of the food and drink exporters to fallout from the UK electorate’s decision to leave the EU is more acute than any other sector.
Brexit conference
This weekend, Fianna Fáil will host a conference on Brexit in the Carrickdale Hotel, Dundalk. The conference, entitled ‘‘Brexit Issues and Impact’’ will take place on Saturday, 12 November.
The conference will be broken into two sections, the first of which will focus on agriculture. Speakers will include John Comer, CEO of ICMSA; Bert Stewart, chair, IFA Ulster; Mairead Lavery, Irish Country Living editor and Donal McCarthy, CEO of Commercial Mushroom Producers Co-Operative.
Listen to the full interview with McConalogue below
Listen to "Fianna Fáil ag spokesman on Brexit, GLAS and Trump" on Spreaker.
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