Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Trust me, we are pretty ambitious and pretty pushy in regard to accessing this fund because it was designed to help countries like Ireland. We are making a very strong case. I have met the line Commissioner twice to make our case and he is very receptive to that case, and very helpful to Ireland, as so many of the Commissioners have been. If ever we needed an example of what it means to be in the European Union, Brexit is it. It is extraordinary how a small country, hugely vulnerable to something that is happening outside of its own control, has been protected by the collective negotiating strength of the European Union. We have had European Commissioners coming to Ireland to understand in real detail the vulnerabilities and concerns that Ireland has, backing that up with an approach to the negotiations and maintaining solidarity across the European Union. It has been quite extraordinary in the context of the withdrawal agreement and the protocol initially, and again now in terms of the Brexit reserve fund and the negotiations that Michel Barnier and Maroš Šefcovic are leading. I get phone calls from Maroš Šefcovic, who is Vice-President of the European Commission, really wanting to make sure that Ireland is being understood through this process. We sometimes hear loose language around unelected, faceless bureaucrats in Brussels, and so on. These people are working night and day to protect Ireland at the moment. As someone who is very passionate about the European Union, I suggest that if we want a pragmatic example of why it matters, this is it. Covid is another example in terms of getting vaccines through the central purchasing power of the European Union, but Brexit is a phenomenal example of solidarity and the backing of a small member state in the face of huge challenges that we could not have faced on our own.

On trade, which Senator Garvey raised, we have a trade relationship with the UK worth about €80 billion a year. By the way, we buy more from Britain than we sell to Britain, which many people do not realise.