The Minister for Jobs says there’s no need for a special ‘Brexit Minister’ as the issue affects ever department.
Speaking to Ocean FM News in Leitrim today, Mary-Mitchell O’Connor said there is a ‘Brexit Co-ordination Group’ in place which reports back to Cabinet under the leadership of the Taoiseach.
The Minister is hosting a Brexit stakeholder meeting in Leitrim with groups from across the North West attending the briefing in the Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon while Minister Katherine Zappone is hosting a similar event in Dublin.
The UK Prime Minister Theresa May is also arriving in Dublin later for a meeting with the Taoiseach on the issue.
Minister Mitchell-O’Connor says they hope to know more after today’s meeting with the Prime Minister on what kind of an exit from the UK the EU is looking for.
However, in the meantime, she says the government is preparing for a hard Brexit. :
She says it would be very easy to appoint a Brexit Minister but that would deflect from the importance of the issue for every department:
The Minister says while they are looking at Brexit in terms of how it affects every business, she says of course there is a specific focus on the border area.
She says she will return to Sligo later this week for further discussions with local businesses:
