Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too wish you well Chairman, as we go through this process, which is a very worthy use of our time in the Seanad. I also join with the Chairman in condemning what happened in Westminster yesterday. We have strong, close ties with the people in Westminster and what happened opens up the world to the dangers we now have, given that migration happens across the world. I do not for one moment suggest that the person behind the atrocity was a migrant into the UK but we are living in a very changed world, a dangerous one, and that will present problems as we move through Brexit, certainly based on a lot of the thinking that lay behind the referendum. I will not ask Mr. Waters to speculate on the thinking of the UK political system in driving towards Brexit.

While this committee is focused on solutions only I very much appreciate Mr. Waters coming here today and setting the context of one of the most serious problems we have. I understand that he is no position to show the Irish negotiating hand by offering anything by way of solutions today but he might offer some clarity and for that I am most grateful. The first issue of concern to me is that for most people living in the North of Ireland they have the opportunity to carry with them and Irish passport, a British passport or both. In other words, they can claim dual nationality. That will present serious problems, leaving aside the desire to travel, as we can have a situation whereby people who are subject to the protections of European laws by virtue of their Irish citizenship are living in a jurisdiction that has no truck with the European Union. The UK is leaving the club and when it leaves the club it is no longer a member and cannot expect to be treated in the same way as members of the club. Regardless of what we in Ireland or they in the UK think about borders, border checks or anything else, there are 26 other partners to be considered and what they want will be of great concern as we go forward.

However, there is a small group, 100,000 people in the North of Ireland, who were not covered by the Good Friday Agreement, who were not entitled to dual citizenship, mostly highly qualified academics or people in the catering sector. I speak of ex-pats who came into the North as consultants, university lecturers and restaurant owners of a myriad of different nationalities. They were naturalised in Northern Ireland and hold UK passports and their children are entitled to joint citizenship. Those people have now formed a lobby group because they feel extremely vulnerable in a post-Brexit world because they will only hold a British passport while their children are entitled to hold both a British and an-Irish based EU passport. One could have a ridiculous situation where a parent travelling with children will not be entitled to the same freedom of movement as their children. That might be a question for Mr. O'Dwyer. I do not know whether the issue has arrived on his desk yet but it has certainly come to mine and it is one that needs to be examined.

I accept there can be no bilateral negotiations outside the Brexit negotiations chaired by Michel Barnier. However, does Mr. Waters agree that under the auspices of the Good Friday Agreement our two jurisdictions have a common cause, namely the peace process? I ask his advice more than anything else but am happy to accept if he does not wish to deal with the issue. Could the Good Friday Agreement be leveraged in order to allow us to bring forward recommendations that could be brought to Michel Barnier? At a recent meeting in Brussels Mr. Barnier pointed out to us that he is open to solutions and it strikes me that one of the best places to find solutions is through common dialogue between ourselves and the UK, but Mr. Waters cannot do that because he is barred from having bilateral meetings. However, the Good Friday Agreement allows us to engage in conversations and perhaps come forward with recommendations.

The final issue of concern to me is education, coming from an education background as I do. I refer to the number of students travelling back and forth between the two countries. In the good old days of the HSS ferry in Dún Laoghaire there were many students getting on the boat in the morning to travel to Wales and coming back in the evening. I am not sure whether that happens any more. I estimate we have approximately 30,000 students in the UK. I am not sure how many students from Northern Ireland travel south but a considerable number travel North, which will create specific problems.

This is my final point. We try to mirror the rules in the UK and Ireland to enable the common travel area, yet in the case of Chinese nationals at one time the rules pertaining in the UK were slightly different and allowed easier access for Chinese students to access education programmes and then when we relaxed ours the British tightened up theirs. Is that a strategic thing or is it something that just happens by osmosis? I thank Mr. Waters for his time. I very much appreciate him taking the time to come here.