Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To respond to the Deputy's final question, the main area in which we would seek to engage in a bilateral arrangement is that of data sharing between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI, to ensure we can continue to co-operate and that the day-to-day functions and carrying out of the Garda Síochána's work can continue. It is not an ideal scenario for individual member states to have bilateral agreements on specific areas outside of an overall agreement. That is why the focus and the priority is an overall agreement on this between the EU and the UK. However, I think we need to be realistic, so if that does not happen we need to make sure that, given the shared nature of this island, we have something in place. It is essentially a fallback position. We are working on that.

As regards secondary legislation, in addition to Parts 16, 17, 18 and 20 of the Bill, amendments to secondary legislation are also required in three areas. We need a statutory instrument which designates the UK as a safe third country after Brexit for the purpose of processing international protection claims. We also need regulations to facilitate UK citizens becoming members of An Garda Síochána and the Garda Reserve. In addition, we need a statutory instrument to recognise UK solicitors' qualifications post Brexit. Those are the three areas in which secondary legislation is needed.

As regards negotiations with the United Kingdom, we are working on the basis that reciprocal agreements will be in place and I have no reason to believe otherwise. We will work on the basis that extradition would be reciprocal.