Martin Heydon, TD

“In the wake of the meeting between An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and British Prime Minister, Theresa May, I am in no doubt of the enormity of the Brexit situation and its potential implications for Donegal. “The Irish Government has a very clear understanding the nature and scale of the challenge presented by Brexit challenge. Ireland began preparations for a potential Brexit two years ago, well before the UK’s referendum and since last June, this preparation has steadily intensified.

The Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, today launched the Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme. The Scheme was developed in co-operation with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), which has today confirmed that AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank will distribute the loans, making €150 million available to farmers throughout Ireland at low-cost interest rate of 2.95%.

I am delighted to welcome Prime Minister Theresa May to Dublin for the first time since she took office. The Prime Minister's visit today is very timely. As everyone knows, the relationship between our two countries, and our common interests, are now facing great challenges.

Fine Gael Dublin Rathdown Senator, Neale Richmond, today (Monday) welcomed the opening of a public consultation into expanding the operating days of the Dún Laoghaire Lexicon library to include Sundays.

Fine Gael Limerick Senator, Maria Byrne, has highlighted that Limerick schools have featured prominently in a list compiled by Independent News and Media detailing the best schools in Ireland on the basis of college entry.

The Taoiseach will welcome Prime Minister May to Government Buildings later today, Monday 30 January 2017, for a Summit meeting.

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has welcomed new figures showing significant progress in tackling long-term unemployment in 2016, with the Government exceeding its own target to help 20,000 people back into employment by an additional 6,000 people.

The Fine Gael Party position is, has been and will remain, not to enter into coalition government with Sinn Fèin.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross TD and Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, today welcomed the publication of official data on overseas travel for 2016 from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which showed an increase of 10.9% in overseas visits to Ireland for 2016 compared to 2015. There was a record breaking total of 9,584,400 visits to Ireland in 2016.