Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the visit of Mr. Verhofstadt. His engagement with the people of Northern Ireland, particularly those in the Border region, and his comments in relation to enabling Northern Ireland to retain access to the Single Market and customs union are warmly welcomed.

I concur with my fellow speakers who have said that by any objective analysis, as co-ordinator Mr. Verhofstadt has displayed a thorough understanding of the dynamics at play on the island of Ireland. He is right when he says that responsibility for finding a solution to the Irish Border question lies with the UK and no realistic proposals have yet emerged from that quarter.

My first question is very simple. Will Mr. Verhofstadt and his colleagues, Mr. Brok and Mr. Gualtieri, consider including within the wording of any final European Parliament resolution a clause that ensures the integrity of the Good Friday Agreement is maintained and the principle of parity of esteem and human rights protection is upheld, especially given that 56% of the population in Northern Ireland voted to remain within the EU? If no such protections are forthcoming from the UK, will the European Parliament veto any outcome that does not satisfy those fundamental rights?

My second question relates to a very good article by Mr. Verhofstadt that was published in The Observeron 9 July last, in which he wrote very rationally about the UK position in relation to citizens' rights. He referred particularly to third country nationals, the new status that will pertain in the UK, the need for separate applications for settled status and the five-year residence requirement. This is another simple question. How seriously is the European Parliament taking the UK's negotiating position, which is grossly insulting to any Irish person living in the UK who has settled there for years and has an intergenerational relationship and which will set back the cause of Anglo-Irish relations by years? I would like to know Mr. Verhofstadt's opinion on that.