Mr. Errol Close:

With fewer than 100 days to the end of the transition period, the Government remains focused on delivering its readiness programme work which is being supported by all parties in the Oireachtas. New legislation is required to underpin these readiness measures and I would like to thank the committee for creating this early opportunity to discuss the legislation. As members may recall, last year the Brexit omnibus Act was enacted. It sought to provide contingency measures to address issues arising out of a no-deal, cliff edge scenario. As the withdrawal agreement was concluded, the majority of the provisions in the 2019 Act cannot be commenced. By contrast, the proposed 2020 Bill is intended to deal with permanent change that will arise at the end of the transition period. It forms a vital part of our national Brexit readiness preparations. The legislation aims to address the wide range of complex issues that could arise for citizens and businesses post transition. It will seek to protect citizens and consumers, facilitate the sound functioning of key sectors and ensure our businesses are not disadvantaged. The Bill is also intended to support aspects of the common travel area and North-South co-operation. It is expected that the final version of the Bill will be brought before the Oireachtas later in the autumn. I am happy to engage with the committee in progressing this legislation and minimising uncertainty for business and citizens.

Part 6 of the Bill concerns arrangements in respect of fluorinated greenhouse gases, F-gases. This Part will address the issue of certification for individuals who work with fluorinated greenhouse gases in their activities in critical sectors such as refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps, mobile air conditioning, fire suppression, solvents and electrical switch gear. The current arrangements, whereby mutual recognition of technical qualifications and certifications from UK institutions in the area of F-gases applying across the EU, will cease at the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. The Government has had a recertification scheme in place since July 2019 to enable individuals and companies with UK F-gases certificates to avail of a free-of-charge process to receive an Irish, EU 27 certificate to enable them to continue to operate in the EU including Ireland. Significant communications activity has been undertaken to raise awareness of the scheme. Up to 27 September 2020, 2,883 individuals have applied for recertification with 2,860 of these applications having been processed. It is difficult to get firm figures given the nature of the sector but it is estimated that there are between 3,000 and 4,000 affected individuals.

Notwithstanding the success of the recertification scheme, there remains a risk that a cohort of currently UK-certified individuals will not be aware of or engage with the recertification scheme until the conclusion of the transition period, when the current recertification scheme will expire in line with mutual recognition. This would require these individuals to retrain. Given the critical nature of the sectors involved, it is proposed to afford a further extended period beyond the end of the transition period to enable these individuals to recertify. Part 6 of the 2020 Brexit omnibus Bill therefore includes provisions similar in nature to that included in the 2019 Brexit omnibus Act to afford these individuals a further six months' validity on their existing UK certificate to continue to operate. It also affords them the first four months of this six-month period to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, to receive an Irish certificate enabling them to continue to operate in Ireland and across the EU. We propose that these provisions will support continuity of service in these critical sectors in addition to protecting employment and individual livelihoods. We would be happy to discuss any questions committee members may have in order to provide further clarity on the application of this Part.