Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their contributions. There is nothing any of us could disagree with in their opening remarks. Mr. McCormack referred to the negatives from Brexit for UK workers. It is probably more sad than ironic that the areas where there was the greatest support for Brexit are the areas in which low incomes are most prevalent. The way in which people were misinformed, including by way of the messages put out by Mr. Johnson, Mr. Gove and others about membership of the EU, etc., has really come home to roost.

Running through all the comments and contributions today is a concern about the divergence in standards, the negatives of the lack of functioning institutions in Northern Ireland and the difficulties arising in the provision of public services there from the lack of local decision-making. I do not see how any of us can emphasise enough the impact of that day in and day out. This takes me back to many debates we had in the 2016 to 2020 Oireachtas. This committee and the foreign affairs committee had numerous visits at that time from representatives of parliamentary committees of other member states of the EU. There was very good engagement with committees of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Brexit committee of the House of Commons was chaired by Hilary Benn, who is now shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for which I am thankful. Members of that committee were here with us on a number of occasions and we also met with them in the House of Commons. At that time, we were emphasising the concern that there would be a race to the bottom in regard to standards, particularly workers' rights. Brexit has not even been implemented and we have already seen the negatives in this regard. It is really worrying to consider, when all the protocols are implemented in respect of Brexit, how much more of an adverse impact it will have on the people working hard to earn a living.

In the context of constitutional change, Mr. McCormack remarked that we want to see the potential of the Good Friday Agreement realised. That is the first step on the way to achieving the constitutional change I and others want to see on this island. Sadly, we are far from that at the moment, particularly insofar as the institutions are not functioning.

We have talked about cross-Border mobility. The Cathaoirleach, Deputy Feighan and I represent Border counties. Visiting or driving past schools in my constituency, I see quite a number of cars with registrations that are not from this jurisdiction. I often think there is more mobility than may be reflected in our discussions. I accept that my observation is very unscientific. However, from my exchange with schools and my knowledge of the staff, both teachers and support staff, there seems to be a fair bit of mobility between North and South in both directions, but not enough. Mr. Boyle might comment on that. I heard two conflicting stories from students at St. Mary's University College, with one talking about the difficulty in taking up a teaching position here and the other telling a different story. I would like to know the reality. Where students qualify in Northern Ireland, there should be very minimal barriers put up to their taking a teaching position in this State. Obviously, they need to reach the standard in Irish and all of that. We all want to see that happening. St. Mary's University College achieves exceptionally well academically and also does exceptionally well in football. It has a lot of alumni who hold all-Ireland medals. Its success over the years is a credit to that small college.

Mr. Reidy talked about workers' rights and the fact the British Government has already introduced very draconian anti-trade union legislation. He also mentioned that successive ministers with responsibility for the economy and finance in Northern Ireland took no interest in workers' rights. It is very disappointing to hear that. Unlike in Wales and Scotland, this is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. I take it that any of the people who held those ministerial posts could have repealed the Thatcher legislation that is on the Statute Book in Northern Ireland. Was that ever even considered by any party? Was it in any programme for Government in Northern Ireland? Is it a live issue now in the North from the perspective that the legislation is there and can be repealed if it is on the Statute Book? I presume there is no barrier to the Executive or the relevant minister repealing the legislation if he or she is so minded to do.