Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will pose one or two questions to Mr. Cox, if I may. This committee should be focused on solutions rather than the problems. The problems are well rehearsed. Michel Barnier and various other senior European officials have stated, as have the British, that their intention is to have freedom of movement on this island. What is Mr. Cox's view of a federalist-type solution for the island of Ireland, where Ireland would be treated as a federal economy? This would allow for the type of North-South movement about which we have been speaking. Mr. Cox mentioned the "half-in, half-out" scenario. Is there a solution in being half in both camps, that is to say, in retaining our links with the British for trading purposes and with the Europeans for the open market?

With regard to investment, we will have road hauliers and people involved in transportation here later on today. One of the problems that may arise is that transport across the UK may become extraordinarily expensive. What is Mr. Cox's view with respect to investment in what I would call the European superhighway, that is, the development of our ports in Cork and Waterford? I envisage the possibility of ten or 15 ferries a day travelling between Cork and Roscoff or Waterford and Roscoff, in order to bypass the tariff issue.

I will pose a question on the issue of European solidarity and the pathway forward - the White Paper to which Mr. Cox adverted earlier.

Does he agree that we must wait for the final outcome of the Italian election and possibly even the Irish election before we consider what type of European Union of the future we will have? Is it all in for solidarity or is it the watered-down version? I am interested in Mr. Cox's views.