Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Apologies for leaving Minister, we have Brexit discussions in the Seanad all day today, something that the Minister has been working hard on and I congratulate him and his team on ensuring that Ireland is one of the three key issues to be resolved prior to any trade discussions between the UK and the EU. One of the key things to emerge from research that I have done for the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement is that there was a special status for East Germany with regard to trade between East and West Germany prior to the wall coming down and that it was effectively treated, in trading terms, as a member of the European Union. That might be something that could be used as a precedent for trade if not between Ireland and the UK then certainly between Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is a little-known field and there is very little research and hard data on it, given the nature of the issue between East and West Germany, but it is something that we could use in respect of the special status for Northern Ireland.

On the issue of securing at the Heads of Government meeting a declaration on the issue of a united Ireland that would be provided for in the final agreement, that declaration is very important and it is obviously also important that it comply with the Good Friday Agreement.

Regarding issues that have come up before the committee and some that the Minister has touched on, we have had great discussions here about consulates and honorary consulates and we got an excellent strategy briefing document on this from the Minister's officials this morning. There does not seem to be a ten-year plan, however, on where we will roll out consulates. We had previously been told that there was no data available to the committee on where the Irish are globally although that was clarified subsequently and we got a reply from the Minister's Secretary General saying that the Department has the data and is working on it. There does not however seem to be a ten-year plan on where these consulates are going to be, as opposed to how they are to be identified and appointed. It seems to be the case that we look at regions or countries only if we are asked by an ambassador to do so, rather than saying that we are going to target them.

I would like to sit down with the Minster and the Secretary General on a specific issue relating to the United States, namely the concerns of staff in the Irish embassies and consulates in New York about pension rights. They are stuck in limbo between US pensions and Irish pensions and getting neither.

There seems to be an issue within the Irish embassies and consulates in New York, in that staff are concerned about pension rights and the fact that they are stuck in a limbo between US and Irish pensions and getting neither. After all of their years of service over there, they will have to survive on a non-contributory Irish pension, believe it or not. That issue needs to be addressed.

On the question of illegal settlements and EU law on goods coming from the occupied territories, is there any plan to ensure that these goods are identified in Ireland? I am concerned about what happened to Senator Lawless. It was outrageous. They might do that in America and believe that they can intimidate Members of these Houses for speaking out, but this is not America and Ireland will not be afraid to speak out. According to a report by 22 NGOs to the EU, the European Commission has confirmed that member states can unilaterally adopt measures to restrict trade on the basis of regulation No. 260/2009 if justified on the grounds of public morality, public policy or public security. Given the fact that it is referred to as an illegal occupation and this is its 50th anniversary, will the Government consider taking action in that regard?

The committee has a concern about the foreign policy strategy that was given to us in draft form. The concern relates to the EU's creeping militarisation and how the first draft of our foreign policy strategy document made no mention of neutrality. That sent the wrong message to Europe. I can give the Minister the draft. We sorted it out in the final document, but only after going back and forth over it.

I will revert to the work that has been done on Brexit. Well done, Minister. We do not often compliment him, but we do when a job is done well. We will not agree everything in the strategy, but the declaration on Ireland by the Heads of Government was an important step.