Top five Brexit tips for businesses in Mayo

THE Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, is calling on businesses in Mayo to keep up their hard work in getting themselves Brexit ready.

“Our political and diplomatic team have done really well in the negotiations but Brexit is still going to mean change and we need to be ready for that change,” Minister Ring said.

“The EU and Ireland have delivered a deal that guarantees no hard border in Ireland, now we have to see if Westminster votes for it sometime in December.”

Minister Ring said multimillion euro supports have been put in place across government from grants, seminars, site visits, supply-chain mapping and loans:

“The first thing management need to ask themselves is, who is in charge of our Brexit plan and how is their work going? The majority of companies have done this but if you haven’t, that’s where you start.”

His top 5 tips for being Brexit ready are:

1 - Appoint your internal team/person

2 - Visit your Local Enterprise Office

3 - Speak to your suppliers about their exposure

4 - Ask your customers about their exposure

5 - Apply for a ‘Get Ready’ grant from Enterprise Ireland or Intertrade Ireland.

Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, Intertrade Ireland, Bord Bia and Tourism Ireland all have bespoke grants and expert consultants available.

An example is the €5 million allocated in Budget 2019 to Local Enterprise Offices, including the team in Mayo to roll out a nationwide customs training programme.

“The work on Brexit preparedness continues. The government has done an immense job to get us to this point but events outside our control will have a serious determination on what kind of Brexit lies in store. All in Mayo have to be Brexit ready,” Minister Ring said.

‘Getting Ireland Brexit Ready’ is the banner under which all government departments are operating and information on grants, events and sectoral podcasts is available on dfa.ie/brexit