Mr. Les Allamby:

There are three areas on which the committee might concentrate. First is the rights of those who identify as British in Northern Ireland to retain their EU law rights and how that might be done. The EU suggested it could be done by simply applying for an Irish passport. I do not think that sits comfortably with the Good Friday Agreement any more than if you asked someone who identified as Irish in Northern Ireland to exercise their rights by having to apply for a British passport. There are a set of issues there around freedom of movement and freedom from discrimination. Second, on 30 June, we come to the end of the settlement scheme apart from some late applications. That means we are back to square one on the DeSouza case. The joint committee has suggested ways that can be done through changes to immigration and nationality law. It is not the only answer to this but it is an answer that recognises the current law which assumes everyone is British, which is anathema to many in Northern Ireland who identify as Irish and are perfectly entitled to do so under the Good Friday Agreement. The UK can sustain durable alternatives around family reunion, and highlighting that would certainly be very useful.

The third area is to look at the common travel area and how we might strengthen its legal underpinnings.

It was mentioned earlier by Mr. Holder in his evidence. Effectively, we have a memorandum of understanding. A gentleman's agreement has very little legal standing. Some documents have slightly greater legal capacity but by leaving the EU, the underpinnings of freedom of movement have potentially gone. That is, therefore, a third area in which there should be some examination from the committee.

Finally, I should have said this when I answered Senator Malcolm Byrne's question. There is an explicit recognition in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement that data sharing is contingent on a continued adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights and a recognition of retaining data protection standards. There are, therefore, some safeguards in the agreement around data sharing. We have to see whether those can work in practice.