Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the short time available I will try to be as specific and constructive as possible. I acknowledge the Minister's role - I believe he made first contact on the issue approximately 18 months ago. Speaking off the record, people within the authorities in the United Kingdom have said this is a sin of omission. However, acknowledging this off the record is not good enough and still does not help us to get over the problem. The parameters of the Good Friday Agreement go beyond North-South aspects and also encompass east-west aspects. The British Government in Westminster, as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, has a responsibility here in acknowledging that it has not taken in the wider impact and effects of this law which came into force yesterday morning.

There is still time to be creative on this issue. The secondary legislation has not been passed in Northern Ireland yet. I agree with the Minister that there is a role for the Northern Ireland Executive with regard to this matter. There is a very good work on the part of the Northern Ireland Minister, Mr. Mark H. Durkan, MLA, and his officials in collaboration with the Department here. There is still an opportunity to be creative in some way. One road between Cavan and Monaghan has been granted a derogation. There has been considerable talk about getting a derogation just for the A5. Officials I have spoken to have said it would be hard to monitor and hard for the PSNI to enforce.

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