Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Feisirí. I welcome the opportunity to hear from and engage with our MEP colleagues this afternoon. As others have said, the more of these kinds of discussions, the better. It is not the fault of our MEP colleagues but the stark issue for me is the lack of representation for a citizen like me and the many hundreds of thousands of citizens like me in the North who, while retaining Irish and EU citizenship, no longer have representation in the EU institutions despite our clear democratic opposition to Brexit being forced upon us in the first place.

Ms Walsh rightly lamented the British Government's decision not to continue to allow access to Erasmus for us but the Irish Government decided not to allocate the additional seats to citizens in the North. That was a real failure on its part. I do not want to bring the discussion down another track but that is an important point to make at a meeting like this, at which I have the opportunity to engage with MEPs.

As with my colleagues, I welcome the ongoing solidarity and certainty regarding the protocol. We need to remain steadfast in respect of it regardless of what occurs. Colleagues have talked about various political uncertainties in the North but adherence to, the implementation of and the effectiveness of the protocol as we navigate the choppy waters have to be key.

Mr. Cuffe spoke about generosity. I do not know whether he misspoke. It was a poor choice of words on his part. He spoke about the generosity of the Government in continuing access to Erasmus. I do not think any of us is looking for generosity or benevolence. We are just looking for our rights and entitlements, particularly given that we lost so many as a result of Brexit. This brings to mind two issues that have come to the fore for me, particularly over the past couple of days. Some of the MEPs will not necessarily be able to answer my question but I hope they will be able to assist us in seeking clarity and gaining support for a resolution to these issues.

My first question is on the European health insurance card. There were provisions made in the omnibus legislation such that if there were to be no agreement on that, the Irish Government would put a scheme in place. It has transpired that the British Government has introduced the global health insurance card, albeit emblazoned with a huge Union Jack, for people in the North. Nevertheless, it has been revealed in the media in the North in the past couple of days that there are several countries in which we will not have insurance, such as Switzerland and Lichtenstein. We need clarity on that. If colleagues in the European Parliament could be of assistance in that regard, it would be helpful. I am going to try to achieve clarity at our end in the Seanad.

My other question is on the digital green certificate and on how EU citizens, including Irish citizens and anyone beyond that in the North, will be able to access it. Will it be based on residency? Is there work we can do to ensure there will not be another right denied to us in the North? When I raised this with the Minister for Health in the Seanad last Monday, the one-sentence response I got was that it is being looked at. Given the roll-out of the vaccine scheme and what I hope will be more positive and safe liftings of restrictions, we are coming to the point where it will become a live issue for people, whether they want a holiday or to travel for work and business purposes. If that is not on the radar of MEP colleagues yet, it may be a matter they can take note of. Collectively, right across the board in the spirit of wearing the green jersey that people have referred to, we should not just obtain clarity on the issue but also work to ensure citizens of the EU and Ireland who are trapped in this Brexit situation against their will can continue to avail of rights and entitlements as opposed to losing even more of them.