Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We seem to have been hearing nothing but grim outlooks for the past number of months and one could start to get depressed and to have mood swings over what appears to be a huge difficulty for the all-Ireland economy. However, 100 jobs were announced for Dundalk today by Almac, which clearly wants to keep its options open over which side of the Border it is best to operate from. I was delighted to hear Mr. Arnold mention solutions because there is a uniqueness in what has just happened, both for Britain and for Europe. There is a need for creativity and imagination to find a solution.

Mr. O'Ceallaigh spoke of the loss of the political interaction and Senator Feighan referred to the various meetings that take place. I am equally concerned at the interaction that will not happen on either side of the Border, such as local authorities co-operating on schemes and in committees to deliver seamless services North and South. I would hope that organisations such as the East Border Region and ICBAN, or CAWT in the area of health co-operation, will not end up counting for naught because this would affect people.

The question of how the Border would be controlled came up. It is 499 km long and has 380 roads, 38 of which are in County Louth. Any interference with the invisibility of the Border at these points will impact on trade and people. The Taoiseach has spoken about technology but there will be an inevitable slowing down of the movement of goods. Hauliers are already extremely worried and they are already being impacted on by the taxes that have been imposed by the British Government when moving North.

I want to ask about the common travel area. Neither the UK nor Ireland joined the Schengen area because we had common movement, North and South. I am led to believe we have no information systems for this purpose. The British Government uses the Schengen information system, even though it is not part of the Schengen Agreement, but there is no control over our Borders, whether this is at ports or airports. I am not thinking of the movement of migrants in this regard but of paedophiles and undesirables and this will be part of a major problem going forward.

The various sectors have been talking about the problems but this needs to be about solutions. Politicians can talk at the most senior level but anyone living along the Border has to deal with farm gate issues and some officials in Brussels, as well as those who advocated for this exit, need to be shown that they are not really representing the periphery of their regions.

I hope that as regards this bespoke solution, as well as with creative and imaginative thinking, we can get to that level of discussion. I am suggesting that on foot of this meeting, from here on, we need to examine the solutions rather than the problems.