Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I will press on. I thank Mr. Verhofstadt for attending. I am delighted to hear him talk about the new-found solidarity of a post-Brexit EU in which Irish citizens will not have to pick up the cost of reckless banking across Europe in the future. I will move on from that matter, however.

There is a notion that the UK is responsible for the Border and that it is, therefore, its problem. Let us be totally honest; it is not. As the Deputy across the Chamber just pointed out with his Brazilian beef example, the problem is Europe's and not the UK's. The British will have no interest whatsoever in putting a border in place. Their sole concern is migration. They can control migration on the boats and aircraft travelling from Northern Ireland. One has to have one's passport to get a flight to Britain as matters stand. How do we protect the Single Market when confronted with a Britain that could not care less about a border in Northern Ireland? How do we defend the rights of some 1.5 million Irish citizens or potential Irish citizens who are, by reason of geography, living on the wrong part of this island?

How do we guarantee them access to such programmes as ERASMUS+? How do we guarantee them free travel throughout the European Union? How do we guarantee them access to all the benefits that are bestowed on every citizen of Europe? A citizen of Ireland is by default a citizen of Europe. How do we guarantee these things? Finally, how do we bring the European Union closer to the citizen on the ground? Citizens in this country have taken one hell of a beating over the past eight to ten years with austerity.