Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A number of members wish to contribute so I ask them to limit contributions to two minutes. In that way, we can give everybody a chance. I will kick off and try to keep within the two minutes.

I thank Professor Faull for his comments. He mentioned our report. I welcome that the Commission is engaging on this and my understanding is that this is the first time the Commission has publicly engaged with a committee process. We very much welcome that and appreciate the delegation taking the time to be here. I come from the north east of this country and we are particularly concerned about a potential exit of Britain from the European Union. We have seen the benefits of the peace process and that is one of the reasons we heard from experts about the potential impact. Our report contains four recommendations relating to the North, with three being bilateral recommendations between ourselves and the UK, whereby we need to put in place funding for the European bodies that might be abolished. We have a proposal to ensure the impact on agriculture and tourism is taken into account. We also have a proposal on the future role of the Irish Government in the negotiations. What role does Professor Faull envisage the Irish Government having in these negotiations, specifically relating to Northern Ireland?

A second question relates to a potential exit. We asked our Minister recently what plans the Irish Government has for a potential exit and whether there is a plan B. What is the Commission doing with respect to contingency planning? Does it have a plan B in place so that if a referendum leads to a British withdrawal, the Commission will be in a position to act?