Ms Patricia King:

I thank the committee for the invitation to address the Seanad. I will make a brief few points and then assist by answering any questions. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions represents over 750,000 workers on the island of Ireland and is set to be the only trade union confederation in Europe which represents workers on both sides of the frontier between the EU and the UK in 2019. Our position on the European Union project is clear. It is that the European Union is vital to the living standards, wages, public services and labour rights of workers and their families across the island.

However, the EU needs to change. There has been a growing dissatisfaction with the policy direction of the Union in recent years. Congress believes that the diminution of the European social model has undermined the progress of European integration and given rise to a level of mistrust between the institutions of the EU and its citizens. Ireland, along with certain other member states, suffered an unnecessarily severe and unbalanced fiscal adjustment in the years from 2008 to 2013, inclusive. Congress believes such policy errors must never be repeated.

Aside from a unique set of constitutional arrangements, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are inextricably linked by the scale and intensity of the trading relationship between them. The Republic of Ireland exported €13.5 billion worth of goods to the UK in 2016 and a further €1.6 billion to Northern Ireland over the same period, which is over 13% of total Irish exports in goods. Northern Ireland exported just under £3 billion worth of goods to the Republic of Ireland in 2015, which is over 30% of its total exports. Great Britain exported just over £15.5 billion worth of goods to the Republic of Ireland in 2016. This is in addition to the significant trade in services across the UK and Ireland. Therefore, east-west trade, as it has become known, is hugely important.

Many statements have been issued in the months since the Brexit referendum on the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland and the necessity, in the context of the Brexit process, to find a mechanism to negotiate unique circumstances. Congress believes that the Good Friday Agreement already provides the structure for dealing with these issues and that the Agreement must not be viewed as an impediment to the negotiation but rather as a resource. The Agreement places an obligation on the Governments of the Republic of Ireland, the UK and Northern Ireland to act and make decisions in the best interests of all the people on the island of Ireland, both economically and socially. The intergovernmental structures already exist. They should be utilised during the Brexit process to ensure that decisions taken do not cause manifest harm to workers on any part of the island. We must acknowledge that there are hundreds of thousands of workers across the island who face a huge challenge to retain their jobs. Likewise, there is an equal number of people who may very well be affected by a diminution in the terms and conditions of their employment. All of this is what we commonly refer to as the race to the bottom in the interests of what we have been told is competitive. The EU has an obligation to ensure that all past and present members states live up to their obligations as set out in the Good Friday Agreement.

Congress believes that failure to reach a post-Brexit arrangement that protects trade and jobs would necessitate a significant policy shift on behalf of the European Union. Central to this must be an end to the straightjacket of fiscal rules that effectively discriminate against public investment. This is imperative not only for Ireland, which is likely to be the worst affected member state of the EU 27 when Brexit happens, but for all states in the Union characterised by under-employment, lack of public investment and pressure on productivity and living standards, along with associated social costs.