Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Chairman on the way he chaired the meetings in Brussels and ensured everybody from this committee had an opportunity to make their points. Likewise, the secretariat did a fantastic job, ensuring we got 14 meetings in two days when we met quite a number of important people.

Until I went to Brussels I was unaware of the level of work the Minister of State had undertaken. I compliment him on that. His travels around the EU, his efforts to drive the Irish message home and his willingness to listen to other countries' issues are to be commended. Unfortunately, however, that work has not been sufficiently appreciated. I therefore wish to put on record my thanks to the Minister of State for the work he is doing.

I have concerns but they do not necessarily reflect on the Minister of State. I have been saying for some time that I want Ireland to take a leadership role rather than a following one. I could see leadership in Brussels but I cannot see it at home. It is to be hoped that will be sorted out today. I would like to see us lay down a number of priorities that we will want to raise during the negotiations on Brexit. Five or six were mentioned in Brussels, but there is no point in laying down priorities unless we have solutions. How far advanced are we in presenting not just the problems but the solutions to them? We are all aware of the Border and trade issues, but the island of Ireland is our concern. We have enjoyed the ability to travel throughout the 32 counties unimpeded and I do not want to see that change, Nor does the Minister of State. There is no point in Ireland and the UK agreeing on that, however. It is a question of how advanced we are on getting agreement from the other 26 EU member states. That is my concern.

The Minister spoke about re-establishing the European project at citizen level, but there is a huge problem there. That is because the European project has been demonised for as long as I can remember. In the Oireachtas, we constantly blame the EU for imposing directives obliging us to do various things. We go there to negotiate, but we must now stand up to the plate. Water is a classic case in point. It was sold as something the Europeans told us to do, not something we negotiated in Europe. I will not ask the Minister of State to comment on that, but if he wishes to do so, I would be interested.

As we go through the Brexit process, I am concerned that we should be able to access funding for market diversification, that is, to move away from the British market where we have 41% of our agricultural output and 35% of our textile and leather industry. I would like to see us moving that to other markets. Is such market diversification funding available and is there such a willingness on the part of the EU? I think it was Monsieur Barnier who suggested that they wanted to get away from derogations as they want a single policy in Europe. However, a derogation on state aid for Monaghan Dairies was mentioned in Brussels. That company is getting a huge proportion of its milk from across the Border. If that stops, where does the company go?

Does the Minister of State know how far the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has advanced with respect to opening up new routes to Europe? I am referring in particular to our ports and a European super-highway of heavy ferries travelling from Rosslare, Cork, Waterford, Foynes, Galway and Dublin.

I think I have asked enough questions of the Minister of State, as others wish to speak. I thank him for the work he has done. I wish him every success as he moves forward because he has a big job ahead of him.