Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1627. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if specific financial aid will be provided for the tourism and hospitality sector in the Border region due to the adverse impacts of Brexit and the heavy reliance of the sector on business from Northern Ireland and Britain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36384/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Government's Brexit Contingency Action Plan Update was published on 9 July. It is the Government's assessment that there is a significant risk of a no deal Brexit on 31 October and accordingly work on no deal Brexit preparations continue to have the highest priority across Government Departments and Agencies.

There is a high degree of uncertainty in forecasting the macroeconomic impact of a no deal Brexit. However it is clear that the impacts would be very damaging. The Contingency Plan Update confirms that in parallel to the predicted macroeconomic impacts, a no deal Brexit will have severe negative effects in a number of sectors and will be widely felt on a regional basis. The impacts will be felt most notably in many exporting sectors including tourism.

In 2019 the Government allocated almost €8 million in additional funding to the tourism agencies specifically to respond to the impact of Brexit. Key elements of the budgetary response will involve temporary, targeted funding for the sectors most affected. In this regard, the Budget allocation for 2020 is subject to the annual estimates discussions with the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform.