Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

You mentioned two main areas - Turkey and Brexit. This is extremely delicate and difficult. I absolutely share the deep concerns of Parliament and of the committee, as expressed particularly by Deputy Brophy, about the rule of law, the democratic process and freedom of expression. We believe the response to the coup is disproportionate. The difficulty we have is to achieve the balance of trying to arrive at a point that achieves the purpose of candidacy status, which is that countries must change, reform and conform to the values we all hold dear. I believe it is something that will have to be reviewed repeatedly over the next number of months to ensure that the continuation of the accession process can improve the principles we wish to see in Turkey. It is by no means certain that they will.

The European Council will have a very fine line and very difficult balance in trying to achieve forward progress in Turkey. It has been lacking in recent times. We must also be aware that the ambition of many Turkish people and a large part of that country ultimately to be a European Union state is something we should be careful not to turn our backs on, and allow individual acts of a group or group of politicians to achieve an ambition that might not be in the best long-term interests or desire of the large number of Turkish people who support accession. However, it would be wrong of me not to clearly explain that the concerns you expressed are shared. It is a very delicate balance, as very frequently can be the negotiations to achieve democracy and peace. We have seen that in this island. It would be a significant move, and the Parliament believes it is a warranted move, to suspend accession talks at this time.

On balance, in trying to achieve an improvement at this time, it is considered to be appropriate. However, I emphasise that there must be improvements in Turkey as a matter of urgency. My view is that if we do not see improvements in Turkey, accession to the European Union will not be achieved in any event and the talks will continue to become increasingly irrelevant.

All of the members asked questions on Brexit. In response to Deputy Durkan, one of the more interesting meetings I attended last week was the General Affairs Council cohesion meeting at which there was a discussion on future cohesion funding across the European Union. Ireland is no longer a substantial beneficiary of EU Structural Funds. However, the meeting presented me with an opportunity to make the point that the funds that have come through the European Union, through PEACE and INTERREG projects, have been hugely beneficial to the island of Ireland and to delivering peace. Both Deputy O'Rourke and you, Acting Chairman, asked if the Irish position was understood. In fact, the Acting Chairman stated his belief that it is understood, and he has travelled extensively. It is. My sense is that there is an awareness that we have a unique difficulty that must be dealt with in respect of the Good Friday Agreement and maintaining free movement on the island. When we have the opportunity to talk about these issues, our partners are interested. Following on from discussions we have had with Michel Barnier, statements from the committee in Berlin and statements from the Chancellor and other politicians, there is an acceptance that there is a unique element within the Brexit deliberations that affects the people of Ireland.

In other areas there is common difficulty. We talk about the economic difficulties Irish business people will have exporting into the UK market. I was in Copenhagen recently and the Danes also have people exporting into that market. The trade issues will affect all of us. Deputy Durkan mentioned the free movement of people, both EU and non-EU citizens. Norway is in the Schengen area and is not in the European Union or the customs union. I hope we will see a very high degree of creativity when it comes to the free movement of people around the island of Ireland. We welcome the ambition of partners among the other 26 to ensure that it remains the case. Equally, commentary from the British Prime Minister, Mrs. May, in this area has also been comforting. We must work together.

The Deputy is correct about discussions. Some people want big leaps. This is a time when we should focus on delivering for our people and not make a big leap in either direction. This relates to the question asked by Deputy O'Rourke as to whether there is an acceptance that the European Union has not delivered as much as it could have over the last five years. The answer is "Yes". We have seen the Bratislava process where we start examining how we can deliver more for our citizens. However, all of us, whether we are in the Government or the Opposition, should remind ourselves and our people that the European institutions are the European Parliament, to which we elect Irish Members to make decisions for us, the European Council, which has Irish Ministers, and the Commission, which is appointed. The decisions that are taken by European institutions are taken by democratically elected European politicians.

We cannot really continue to talk, as we saw with the referendum, about the European Union in the third person. We need to use more collective language in referring to the Union because we have created it. Although it needs change and it can always be reformed and improved, to suggest we would be somehow better off without it would be completely wrong and would not be beneficial. At the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of 14 November, I stated Ireland's support for the eastern partnership process and deepening our engagement with Georgia and other eastern partnership countries. It is very much to the fore in our deliberations.

There was mention of some petulant commentary around Ireland. I have been absolutely struck from other member states about how valued it is when I restate that the Irish, irrespective of whatever our cousins across the water have chosen, are fundamentally clear that we are staying as strong members of the European Union. All member states will continue to have disagreements over certain aspects and policies from time to time, but the core principle we must restate is our membership. It is always exceptionally well received. I know that in polls there is strong support from our own people, but with the question of how we are regarded, it is fair to say the Irish people are extremely valued as members of the EU. I will go further and say we are valued even more given that one of the islands off the north-west coast of Europe has chosen to diverge at this time from membership. We must continue to work in that regard.

I have a final note on opportunities. There will be opportunities for our country and we did not want the United Kingdom to leave the EU. We are still acutely aware of the significant difficulties that will come about, particularly for some of our food producers and those especially affected by currency fluctuations. Having said that, we and IDA Ireland in particular have sold our country on the basis of a very hard-working and engaged population of people who are well educated and great team players when companies come to invest in Ireland. We also sell our country on the basis that we are stable and continued members of the European Union and the eurozone. We speak English and we have other cultural attractions to people, particularly those coming from places like the United States of America because of strong links. Our attractiveness as an investment point has perhaps been strengthened by virtue of other areas becoming less attractive. It is incumbent on all of us, especially our State agencies and Departments, to seek to optimise the inward investment that in some way might mitigate the difficulties. Time will tell where the balance sheet will fall with respect to that and if it will fall in the black, the red, credit or debit, or whatever accounting terminology we want to use.

There is significant work under way. For example, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is increasing the number of personnel in Brussels and embassies in London, Berlin, France and other locations to ensure people who want to speak to us in Ireland can do so. As people are aware, we cannot speak in specifics because this is a competitive environment. Having been on a number of visits with Enterprise Ireland, particularly in the north west of Europe, looking at new market opportunities in Scandinavia and so forth, as well as dealing with people from Tourism Ireland and Bord Bia, I am always struck by the extremely high calibre of the officials in our agencies out working on our behalf. I have no doubt they will continue to work very hard. They are aware their roles are ever more important for the country but they are a remarkable group of people going about their business promoting our country as an inward investment and tourist destination, a food source or as a place to purchase generally or to visit.

Only history will tell if the benefits will outweigh the negatives. We must remember we are only in control of one side of this equation because the British decision to leave was theirs alone. What we do to maximise potential is a job for the people of the Republic of Ireland.