Ireland “will be first in line” for the €5 billion Brexit adjustment fund, Simon Coveney has said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said the country would do well from the EU compensation fund to cushion the economic disruption from Brexit, despite France being likely to get the lion’s share.
Speaking in the Dáil after media reports on Thursday that France will get the majority of the €5 billion Brexit Adjustment Reserve fund, Mr Coveney said “Ireland is certainly going to be first in line for that in the levels of disruption we have to deal with”.
The fund should not be seen as exclusively about fishing, he told Opposition TDs during questioning on Brexit.
There are many other areas being disrupted that will need financial support
“There are many other areas being disrupted that will need financial support to actually help us get through that disruption, to reconfigure, and reshape certain sectors of our economy linked to Brexit,” Mr Coveney said.
Irish interests have been factored into the solutions that have been agreed, he said.
“And we have to try to now to ensure that the final agreement on a future relationship and a trade agreement can be reached that does the same. But that’s not easy.”
Mr Coveney said he was confident that Ireland would do well in the context of that Brexit adjustment fund, which should not be seen as a fishery fund. “Fishing for me is about trying to hold onto as much fishing opportunity as possible across the pelagic sector and across the commercial sector,” he said.
Laying claim
Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O'Sullivan raised alarm that France was laying claim to the majority of the €5 billion fund. He was concerned that fishing fleets from France and other European countries could access Irish fishing waters.
In response, Mr Coveney said Ireland was “looking for a fair outcome”.
"The Government is interested in protecting fishing interests to ensure we have a fishing industry in the future," he said.
He said the Brexit adjustment fund and what proportion of that goes to fishing was a separate issue and he has had conversations with the European Commission about it.
The Brexit Adjustment Reserve was agreed in a landmark EU budget deal this summer to help the countries hardest hit by Brexit, and with Ireland’s growth forecast to be the worst affected in the bloc, the Government hopes to get the lion’s share.
