Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join the welcome that others have extended to the Minister and thank him for his commitment to this important issue that will impact many aspects of our lives and could have done so more devastatingly. He helped to achieve European cohesion and all of that.

I was fascinated by his description of the fishing situation. I was thinking that it was great that he has a background as a fisheries Minister. It is good to know that there are no nationalist or unionist fish. There is enough nationalist and unionist cleavage without having it among the fishing stock. That is encouraging.

I will have to leave because I have a matter on the agenda of our parliamentary party meeting and I want to go. I will read and hear about the debate tomorrow. The Minister yesterday indicated a good confidence about customs working well and that we will have a green lane for Irish trucks, etc. He thought that there will not be long delays and, of course, we have the 1,500 new people. I would again like to hear the Minister go into that and give assurances in this forum on that score because it is a real concern with implications. I was this morning talking to a good haulier, known to the Minister, from a good firm. He said that any delays would have huge implications for his margins. It would be interesting to get clarification around that matter.

The Minister also said yesterday that the cross-Border health scheme could not continue in its present form because the UK will no longer be in the EU. I am interested in how he sees that being rectified and over what kind of a timeframe.

The Internal Market Bill is the great chestnut. The reintroduction of the section that was defeated in the House of Lords when the Bill is presented in the House of Commons next week would almost be seen as a casus belli, a declaration of war by the UK. It would declare an intention to not go ahead with agreements and to breach protocols. We certainly hope that does not happen. All I can say publicly is that all of us, of whatever party and Independents, are proud that Ireland is firmly standing up to the Internal Market Bill because it breaches ethics, international law and high principle. How do we expect the ordinary citizenry to be straight and proper in their dealings with the state if states' dealings with each other are to be crooked and not honoured properly? It is hard to instil confidence in politics and the democratic system in those circumstances.

That is all I want to say. I want to leave. I thank the Chair. I do not know if I got the opportunity to publicly congratulate her on her election. I wish her well.