Pádraig Ó Céidigh (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his colleagues, in particular. The level of work and responsibility of the Minister's Department and his colleagues is fundamental. In actual fact, compared to some other Departments, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport carries an awful lot of the burden in helping to make the process successful because it is all about the movement of people and goods.

I have a document that was issued by the British Government on 21 December last entitled, Partnership pack: preparing for changes at the UK border after a no deal EU Exit. I have read it a couple of times. To give a sense of the enormity of the task, on page 27, it states in referring to Northern Ireland businesses importing from Ireland that "We [the British Government] would recommend that, if you trade across the land border, you should consider whether you will need advice from the Irish government about preparations you need to make". To me, that begs the question of what is being done. It is there in black and white and it is not even less than satisfactory, it is not good enough. I make those points in the context of the significant work being done and the contribution our civil servants and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport are making to try to have the process as seamless as possible. It is important that we weigh in and support each other at this time.

On the movement of passengers, I agree with the Minister that we have to start to look at Northern Ireland and what the relationship will be in the movement of passengers and freight. There is a lot in the 120 page document about freight, including border checks, custom duties, tariffs and so on. It goes back to the point made by Deputies Catherine Murphy and Troy. When he is feeding back information to us, perhaps the Minister might give us a sense of how it fits into the overall picture. That would be very helpful from our perspective because some of the questions overlap. I understand why Deputy Munster made a request earlier and this may well be part of her concerns.

What will the position be for passenger to the North and to the South? What is the Minister's view on whether they will require a passport at the Border? I am thinking of passengers on buses and trains. Does the Minister have a sense of what the requirements will be or will just normal ID be required? Has he discussed the matter with any third party in Northern Ireland or the rest of the United Kingdom?

I am very interested in getting the Minister's views on the next step to be taken, namely, a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom, which is part of the bigger picture. At what stage is the Minister in that regard? I understand there are significant EU requirements and that the European Union does facilitate bilateral agreements. I also understand we have to work within its terms and conditions.