Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Brexit Stephen Donnelly TD says the publication of a new survey on the preparations being carried out by SME’s in advance of Britain’s departure from the EU must serve as a wakeup call for the Government.
The publication of the survey results by AIB show that just 6% of SME’s in Ireland are prepared to deal with the fallout associated with Brexit.
Deputy Donnelly said, “These survey results are alarming. They show that Irish SME’s simply aren’t prepared to deal with the consequences of Brexit. This is no surprise when you consider the Government has failed to articulate the need for SME’s to carry out detailed contingency planning.
“All the focus to date has been on high level diplomacy, the Government simply hasn’t been doing the groundwork in helping businesses prepare for Brexit. A whole of Government response is needed to deal with this. We need to see detailed sectoral response plans which set out how the Government intends to deal with Brexit and assist SME’s overcome what will undoubtedly be a sudden economic shock to their operations.
“The recent Copenhagen Economics Report confirms that a hard Brexit could cost Ireland 20,000 jobs. The Government needs to introduce a comprehensive domestic support package to help businesses overcome the challenges a possible hard-Brexit poses,” concluded Deputy Donnelly.
