Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Coming from a Border area, there is uncertainty about Brexit. There are 200 Border crossings. The relationship that the Republic of Ireland has with Northern Ireland is great. A fantastic relationship has been built over the last number of decades with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI. Even the Minister, in his former job as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, made connections. We are talking about prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution. Every one of those words is a connection that we have between the North and South. There is much uncertainty there. I know October will be a very important time, with Brexit and such. Are we ready for this? We all know that the UK will eventually leave the EU. It is important that the EU and Ireland keep this close relationship. I come from a Border area, as I said. Over the last few years, there has been a big stop to the criminal activity going in the last decade. The last thing we want to do is see this happen again. It is important that we pull all the stops out with the EU and UK and keep it going the way it is.