Mr. Chris Hazzard:

I thank the Minister for his report today. It seems much longer than a year since we sat across from one another at a North-South Ministerial Council but a lot of water has gone under the bridge in that year, not least that the catalyst for much of what is going on at the minute is Brexit.

What does the Minister mean by "sufficient progress"? Is the Irish Government turning "sufficient progress" from wanting the North to remain within the Single Market and customs union to meaning there is going to be a border so let us mitigate that? Does "sufficient progress" mean sufficient mitigation of a possible future border or does it mean sufficient progress on getting agreement on the North staying within the customs union and the Single Market? No doubt the Minister saw the completely lacklustre performance of the UK Home Office and its Border Force before the Public Accounts Committee in Westminster on Monday. When asked what work they had been doing in the past 18 months on the Irish Border, their reply was absolutely nothing. They had not looked at the Irish Border because there is no political agreement yet on that. I am dumbfounded by that.

Very often we find ourselves drawn into discussing North-South issues. The Minister did it today and last week in the Dáil he referred to the 142 different issues and the Border. We forget that the Good Friday Agreement is much more than that. There are the institutions on devolved matters, issues relating to the European Court of Justice and human rights in tandem with the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Has there been any discussion with the British Government to exempt the 1998 Act from the withdrawal Bill, so that it remains within the EU legal framework thereby leaving all devolved matters and matters we are discussing today within that EU context?

In respect of legacy issues, the Loughinisland massacre in 1994 is a serious issue in my constituency. The film "No Stone Unturned" was released lately. If his diary permits, I invite the Minister to come to a showing of that film in Dublin on 12 December. It will be in the AV room in Leinster House. The Minister is very welcome to attend and meet the families.