Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to discuss Brexit and how it will impact on the workings of my Department and Tusla. It is great to be here.

The number of Brexit-related matters that lie in the areas of responsibility of my Department or Tusla to address in their entirety are small. Of course, there is a multitude of issues raised by the Brexit process which may impact across all of Government, on its services and on the citizens and businesses of this State. I would like to use our time today to focus on issues of specific interest to the committee. In particular, there are a small number of areas in respect of which, in conjunction with other departmental colleagues, my officials are seeking to mitigate our potential exposure post the UK leaving the European Union.

Before getting to those issues, may I highlight some of the issues that have been consistently raised by young people as matters of concern to them? I thought it was really important the Department would go to them and hear from them. Those issues have remained remarkably consistent since the intention of the UK to leave the European Union was confirmed.

From my own Brexit-related consultations with young people in Croke Park and Dáil na nÓg and the Ombudsman for Children's consultations with young people on Brexit and other events, the themes that are coming from them are pretty much the same. They may be summarised as follows. Brexit will impact profoundly on the island of Ireland and the current generation of young people will be those who will have to live with the decisions made during the negotiations. A hard border and regression to the violence of the past is to be avoided at all costs. The Good Friday Agreement is to be protected. Brexit must not be utilised to drive deeper societal division. Brexit must not limit opportunity for those on the island of Ireland. Work, travel and study opportunity for all must be maintained. The North-South co-operation in healthcare, education, policing, safety and child protection must remain. Access to services must be guaranteed.

While all of these issues are of concern to young people on this island, most of them fall to other Departments and agencies to address. For example, access to education is a matter for colleagues in the Department of Education and Skills and the Good Friday Agreement falls within the remit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which, as the committee will be aware, is leading on much of our Brexit response, including in respect of areas such as the common travel area. This matter is really important for young people in particular and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade works closely with the Department of Justice and Equality and a number of other Departments in this area. Responding to Brexit is a whole-of-Government exercise.

Moving to my Department, we work with the structures established by the Departments of the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs and Trade to deal with Brexit related matters. In this regard, my officials have consistently contributed to the interdepartmental group on EU and Brexit, the Brexit co-ordinators group and the interdepartmental North-South co-ordinators group. This is in addition to representation on the groups dealing with a no-deal Brexit planning at Secretary General and assistant secretary general level which meet on a weekly basis. In light of this significant and ongoing analysis, three key issues have been identified as having the potential to impact to a greater or lesser degree on my Department and its work with Tusla.

The first issue is Council Regulation EC No. 2201/2003, Brussels IIa, which governs jurisdiction and recognition of judgments in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility. While the majority of this regulation is applicable to private law matters and, therefore, related domestic issues would fall to the Department of Justice and Equality for consideration, the regulation does provide the framework by which children in the care of a member state may be transferred to the jurisdiction of another member state. The regulation also sets out the issues for consideration in any proposed transfer of childcare proceedings from one member state to another, as well as providing a mechanism by which reports on children and families may be sought by relevant courts from member states. Where this regulation would have most resonance is in the transfer of young people to the UK for secure care or advanced therapeutic mental health services. At any point, there are roughly ten young Irish citizens being cared for in out-of-State provision. In a similar fashion, children from Northern Ireland placed in settings predominantly in the Border counties avail of the regulation to govern such placements. Legislation is not required in the event of Brussels IIa not being carried forward by the UK post-Brexit. While it would be prudent to draw up an agreement or a bilateral to restate the agreed procedures for out-of-State placements, there would be no legal impediment to such placements even without Brussels II. Moreover, the Protection of Children (Hague Convention) Act 2000 would facilitate placements similar to that operating under Brussels IIa. Consideration is being given to the need to put in place new protocols for consistency of practice and effective communications.

The second issue is recognition of qualifications. In tandem with other sectors, such as health, the recognition of professional qualifications into the future poses a particular challenge. Recognition of qualifications is a matter that is being led by colleagues in the Department of Education and Skills. The greatest source of potential impact for areas covered by my Department would be qualifications relevant to social work given the ongoing drive for the recruitment of social workers by Tusla. However, the risk associated with any divergence in qualifications is currently considered to be low. A process already exists within my Department for recognition of early years qualifications from third countries. This has been discussed with UK representatives at the British-Irish Council early years working group. This group will continue to provide an opportunity to exchange views on these issues. My Department has been liaising with the Department of Education and Skills on this matter. The latter has not raised any concerns regarding recognition of qualifications post-Brexit and is well equipped to deal with future recognition.

The third area is PEACE funding. This issue was also raised by young people in some of the earlier sessions. Youth services are included under the current PEACE IV programme, which means Brexit will impact in the context of PEACE funding. We welcome the commitments of the UK to the current PEACE programme and to a future PEACE PLUS programme, as well as the European Commission's proposals to ensure continuity of these vital funds. My Department and I will continue to advocate for the inclusion of the youth streams in a future programme. Any loss in this area would be a lost opportunity regarding funding for future youth services on both sides of the Border.

While confident the current PEACE programme will be maintained, any funding impacts on youth services as a result of Brexit will be kept under review throughout 2019. Depending on the exit mechanism chosen by the UK Government, I am conscious of the potential for Brexit to have varying degrees of impact on the young people of this State. My officials and I, however, are committed to working closely with colleagues at all levels of Government to ensure everything possible is done to mitigate any potential negative consequences of the decision of the UK to leave the EU in light of Brexit.

That concludes my opening remarks. I would be delighted to hear the views of the committee on this important topic and I have a group of great officials here to assist us.