Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Dr. Rigney.

The future of Europe concept is slightly unreal at the moment because Europe is very much wrapped up with the Brexit talks which, currently, are not going well. The deadline is March 2019. That is the date when the British MEPs will physically leave Brussels according to the arrangement that has been entered into. That will be a major change because there are between 75 and 80 British MEPs in the European Parliament. It will also be a major change from our point of view because as a former Minister of State with responsibility for trade I was involved in the Single European Act and our allies were the United Kingdom, as we were theirs in terms of derogations because at that time we were not ready, for example, to have an open economy in trade but such things have developed. It is most regrettable to say the least that the British are leaving. I am just back from the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Liverpool where we had deliberations and we brought forward a paper on the preferred option on the Border post-Brexit as far as the UK and Ireland are concerned. All those issues have been well thrashed out already.

Ireland's position on Europe has changed since the troika and the European Central Bank were involved in very dubious activities during the 2007 to 2008 period when we were given enormous loans and we carried the can. The question was whether we should have burned the bondholders and just walked away from the situation but we did not. The standing of Europe, as such, has been reduced since that. What happened at that particular time heralded a major change in Ireland. Many good things were achieved by our membership of the European Union, including the removal of the marriage bar and equal pay, which strangely enough did not seem to filter through to RTE. RTE has operated a regime of unequal pay between men and women for so many years. It is unacceptable to say the least that of two people presenting the news at 6 p.m. on television one is paid perhaps €60,000 less than the other. RTE must not have realised that equal pay applies to it.

There is no appetite here for a federal Europe. Mr. Juncker and others are pushing towards a federal approach whereby there would be one Minister for Finance and other issues would also be dealt with centrally. I am happy with the status quo. We developed the Single European Act and we worked together in harmony but if there is any move to try to undermine in any way our 12.5% corporation tax we could not and would not accept that Europe would have any responsibility for setting the level of tax throughout Europe. That is something successive Governments have been adamant about.

As far as the present situation is concerned we accept that it is more than likely, but it is not guaranteed yet, that the United Kingdom will be gone if various changes occur. We are not sure yet but there is no doubt we are moving in that direction. The European Union should proceed with the expansion of Europe in relation to Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. That region could do with the stability of being a member of the European Union and would replace one with three. From an Irish point of view we should be at the forefront of supporting the applications of those countries because, as was mentioned, they will be the allies we will require in the new Europe after Britain leaves.

The future of Europe is bound up by Brexit and it will be a different Europe. It will be a less inclusive Europe if the United Kingdom eventually leaves because the UK has played a very important role. We joined together in 1973 and we have been together for that period. It is leaving and we are staying with the 26 member states and we are negotiating with the United Kingdom although we are conscious that a bad deal for the United Kingdom is a bad deal for Ireland. We are in danger of being affected by collateral damage. I was in Brussels recently and there seemed to be an attitude towards the United Kingdom that it must pay for its treachery and disloyalty to the European Union but we could be affected by collateral damage. Most of the other 26 countries are not that worried about us. We are worried about ourselves but I do not see much concern in Estonia, Latvia or other countries about our unique position whereby there is €1.2 billion in trade per week between both countries. We are big customers of each other. It is a major step forward.

I am encouraging British companies to relocate some of their plants to the Republic of Ireland, in particular in the west in order that they would have access to Ireland West Airport Knock, ready access to the markets and a guaranteed access post-Brexit to Europe. If tariffs are applied then the United Kingdom can prepare in advance. The same will apply to some Irish companies who will have a continued foothold in the United Kingdom by arrangement and agreement and by virtue of making investments there. It is a reciprocal process. We must ensure that we look after our interests. Our interest lies in staying with the major European countries but that we can attract enterprise from the United Kingdom in terms of parts of their companies to the west. We are and will be the gateway to mainland Europe.