Ms Maria Walsh:

I am delighted to join my European Parliament colleagues and representatives to discuss how we can work together. I commend the committee on the work it is doing, particularly the examination of issues concerning our citizens and communities as the committee develops its interim report over the coming weeks. I look forward to the ongoing conversation we will have. The joy of speaking last among the European Parliament representatives is that my colleagues have covered a great deal of the monumental work going on in Brussels, where I and my Ireland Inc. colleagues are sitting, Strasbourg and our respective constituencies.

By ratifying this agreement, we provided certainty to our businesses and citizens and protected Ireland as a whole from the damaging consequences of a no-deal outcome. The final outcome, as echoed by all colleagues, was a great example of Ireland Inc. working together and coming together. All 13 Irish MEPs put on the green jersey and voted in favour of its adoption. It was a welcome stance given Brexit is far from over and our communities still need us to stand together to protect the interests of all communities and businesses throughout the island.

Unfortunately, in the early weeks of this year, we saw some difficulties in the management of Brexit and Article 16. I commend the swift backdown by the Commission, which was necessary and welcomed. It should never have happened and needs to be acknowledged but to focus on this and distract from the significant support we have received from the Commission and fellow EU member states would dismay me. The support we have received since the Brexit vote in 2016 shows the power, co-operation and strong relationships between our representatives, Government Ministers, Senators, including the committee members, local representatives who are the focal point of connecting to our constituencies and businesses, and our EU colleagues. Not only did Europe put Ireland’s concerns at the heart of Brexit negotiations, it has also pledged to deliver significant financial support to offset the impact of Brexit. It is imperative that we, across all political houses, continue to work together to achieve what the agreement sets out in terms of protecting our citizens and businesses.

In terms of the Northern Ireland protocol, we will see continued engagement this week, as my colleagues alluded to. We will hopefully see both sides take stock of the progress made and look at the holdbacks our communities are experiencing on the ground. My colleague, Mr. Markey, alluded to some of those. The continued intensive engagement between the EU and the UK on the implementation of the protocol is welcome. The shared goal must be achieved, even if it is tiresome to watch given that not everybody seems to be on the same page at all times. It is in the best interests of our communities and businesses that we, as representatives in the European Parliament, continue to engage and look forward to progress.

Barry Andrews highlighted the Brexit adjustment reserve. There is €5 billion in the pot and it is necessary that we draw down as much as has been allocated. I will walk through some other areas that I feel we can rely on and lean into. Not only will the Brexit adjustment reserve support economic sectors, business and local communities and, as Mr. Markey highlighted, our fishing communities by funding employment schemes, training and retraining, it will also support the infrastructure, particularly for custom and security checks, that Brexit could, and likely will, impose on us. It will support fisheries control, certification and authorisation regimes for products, which essentially means, as far as practical, it will help to minimise the distribution movement of Irish goods.

Ireland is the biggest benefactor of the reserve and stands to lose the most, particularly in our fisheries sector. We are projected to get an initial fund of approximately €1 billion, as colleagues have said. A total of €109 million of that fund has been allocated to support our fishing industry. I am working on this with Colm Markey and Grace O’Sullivan on this, with other organisations. We are not just representing large fishing industries but also our small fishing communities to ensure that in regions such as our constituency, specifically places such as Arranmore Island and Killybegs in County Donegal and Rossaveal in County Galway, this money is released quickly, invested wisely and not held back by bureaucratic conversations.

It needs to get down to the communities that it is serving. There are a couple of other funding initiatives that the EU offers us and a good example of an opportunity to fundamentally change the way we work and move towards more sustainable industry is the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, which was set up to offset the impact of changes in the world trade patterns and the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. It specifically offers funding to member states to support displaced workers and those who are self-employed to move towards sustainable industries and to support measures to provide flexible working arrangements, childcare allowances and mobility allowances. This is key in the next stages of the post-Brexit and post-pandemic period in developing the skills needed in the digital age, particularly across the region of the European Parliament's Midlands–North-West constituency. It is a great opportunity and we cannot pass these by. We have benefited positively from the EU funding in the past. For example, in recent years we have seen funding for research and development through the Horizon funding programme for our third level sector and through the EU INTERREG programmes, such as the PEACE programme, which focuses on building community relations in particular among young people, which is key to this. I know that Mr. Cuffe also alluded to this. Youth is our focal point in this and it is great to hear Ireland Inc in the European Parliament also echoing that same sentiment. With that, I will work with representatives and agencies to ensure that our citizens feel that support.

Finally Chair, as a member of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament, it is really worth highlighting and commending the Government and in particular my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Harris, on his work in guaranteeing young people in Northern Ireland continuing access to the Erasmus+ programme. This programme involves, as many members will already know, learning mobility and cross-border co-operation projects for millions of Europeans of all ages and backgrounds. It is a fantastic programme with many benefits to young people in particular, giving them the opportunity to study, train and gain experience abroad and vice versa. We have seen that footfall here in Ireland.

Unfortunately, the British Government refused the opportunity to continue to support such a programme despite continued participation being offered by the EU. Our neighbours decided to leave and we must deal with the footfall. The decision by the Irish Government supports all students in Northern Ireland being able to participate regardless of their citizenship and students will have access to the Erasmus+ programme by temporarily registering with the Irish higher education institutions. If anybody is watching this meeting online as this meeting is being streamed, is studying in Northern Ireland and have not quite heard of the Erasmus+ programme, please check it out.

I will park it there, Chair and colleagues, and I very much look forward to a fruitful discussion and hope that this will be continued into the future. I also want to have acknowledged in the committee’s report and in these conversations that we should also continue to engage with our local representatives and bring them into this conversation by having the engagement and the experience of those who are working with our community members and citizens on a daily basis, through seeing the footfall and issues at hand. It is very important that we hear their voices at all of the stages of Brexit that are ahead of us. I thank the committee and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with its members.