Mr. Chris Hazzard:

I thank the Tánaiste for a substantive, thought-provoking and constructive contribution. Bearing in mind that plenty of people want to come in, I will be brief and to the point. The headline around Brexit, the Good Friday Agreement, the backstop and no hoarding at the Border is that we are all on the same page. As such, I will get to a point where differences start to come in. Despite the rhetoric and platitudes, people in the North are very disappointed that the Irish Government is not moving legislation to allow our democratic rights to be protected going forward. Come 29 March, we will lose our democratic right to participate in European elections. It is entirely in the gift of the Irish Government to redistribute MEP seats to the North. For political reasons, the Government has decided not to do so. I ask the Tánaiste to outline why that is the case, despite the fact that both he and the Taoiseach stood up and said Northern citizens would not be left behind again. The Tánaiste referred to paragraph 52, which provides that we will continue to share EU rights and benefits going forward, but the Government has fallen at the first hurdle and Northern citizens will face a second class citizenship in respect of those rights and benefits. This is something entirely in the gift of the Government. Next week, the Government will move legislation on the redistribution of those seats within the State whereas they should be redistributed towards the North to preserve those rights. I am sure other speakers will have other questions, but I would like a very clear and definitive answer on that.