Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I thank the Minister for his reply. I hoped he would have news on a breakthrough in the North-South free travel issue. However, he is also anxious to do something regarding the east-west dimension. The common travel area between Ireland and the UK predated the EU but his legal advice is that providing free travel between both countries would discriminate against citizens of other EU states who could not avail of this concession. This common travel area was jealously guarded by Ireland under the Schengen Agreement and that should have precedence.

A European Parliament spokesman stated legal advice had been provided that if Ireland did not provide free travel to the 37,000 pensioners living in the UK who are in receipt of an Irish pension, it would discriminate against them. They could launch a legal challenge at the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Tribunal or the European Court of Justice. The emigrants in receipt of pensions will also receive the centenarian bounty from now on and he would not discriminate against them if he extended the free travel scheme to cover them. It would be great to do that.

What is the Minister's thinking on this? I appreciate he is anxious to extend the scheme but this is a moral debt. These pensioners contributed £2 billion sterling between 1975 and 1995. The task force placed great symbolic significance on this because it said it would mean so much to emigrants, particularly when they return on holidays. The common travel area provision is the Government's out on this, particularly since these people are in receipt of an Irish pension and will receive the bounty.

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