Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil supports the Bill proposed by Deputy Terence Flanagan, which would offer passport-free travel to qualifying people who are travelling within the common travel area, which comprises the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The Bill proposes that no transport operator can demand that a qualifying person, such as a citizen of Ireland, the UK or elsewhere within the European economic area, who travels within the common travel area should require a passport to do so. Although the common travel area between Ireland and the UK has been in operation since the 1920s, it is not specifically provided for in legislation. The first legal recognition of this common travel area was contained in the Treaty of Amsterdam. As a result of the existence of the common travel area, no passport controls are in operation for Irish and UK citizens travelling between the two countries. One does not need to have a passport to enter the other country. All air and sea carriers require some form of identification and some regard a passport as the only valid form of identification. That is where these problems arise.

Immigration authorities may require a traveller to have valid official photo identification which shows his or her nationality. When he introduced this Bill, Deputy Flanagan referred to this as "a grey area [that] can cause confusion to people travelling within the common travel area as to what forms of identification are required." He also referred to the case of a businessman who was not allowed by an unnamed airline to board a flight to the UK, where he was due to do business, on the basis that he was not carrying a passport. I am reminded of an incident earlier this year when a rugby referee from Wales who was flying to this country from Bristol to officiate at a Leinster game was prevented from travelling by Ryanair because of the absence of a passport. Aer Lingus stepped in to facilitate the referee in that case. Deputy Flanagan rightly referred to the case of the businessman he raised as an example of red tape. When businesses complain about the burden of regulation, they are usually referring to red tape imposed by the State. In this case, one business was imposing a regulation on another. It is interesting to note that Ryanair previously called on the European Commission to reduce the regulatory burden costs on all airlines. Similarly, Ryanair once challenged the insistence by Hungarian border police that flight crews landing briefly in Budapest should disembark and undergo security checks before flying out again.

On First Stage, Deputy Flanagan stated:

It is my hope that if enacted, the new legislation will make travel between Ireland and the UK much easier, and qualifying people will no longer be required to present a passport when visiting the areas in question. Instead, a valid driver's licence, a student card, a Garda age card or a work identification card including a photograph would be accepted by all airlines.

While that would be most welcome, what would prevent an airline from requiring a passport in the parts of the common travel area outside the jurisdiction for which the Members of this House can legislate? I understand that as part of Ryanair's new customer-friendly focus, its website now allows any photo identification which matches the passenger name in the booking to be used on UK domestic flights. Like Aer Lingus, Ryanair allows children under the age of 16 who are travelling with an adult on UK domestic flights to travel without photo identification. However, it is still putting limitations on flights between Ireland and the UK by allowing people to travel only if they are carrying a valid passport. By contrast, CityJet allows people to travel with a driver's licence with photograph, a national identification card or a Government-issued photo identification card. Ryanair says that travel between Ireland and the UK is international transit, which is true, but there are exceptions to all rules. I suggest that it should respect the agreement that has been in place on these islands since the 1920s.

It is obvious that when one raises the subject of the common travel area, the subject of the United Kingdom's possible exit from the EU, or Brexit, cannot be far behind. Our party has warned that if Britain votes to leave the EU, it will have a huge impact on Ireland and on the Border region in particular. There is enormous concern that a Brexit could destabilise the relationship between Ireland and Britain as well as having serious consequences for our economy. The implications of a Brexit are not confined to economic issues. The fallout would be felt more severely in Ireland than in many other EU countries because we are the only country to have a land border with Britain. There is concern that a Brexit could even see the reintroduction of EU border controls. In the event of the UK exiting the European Union, Ireland's Border with Northern Ireland will be the UK's only land border with the EU.

Obviously, the common travel area, CTA, predates the European Union and indeed our membership of it. As both Ireland and the UK joined the EU, or the EEC as it was then, at the same time, there was never any question about the continuation of the CTA. In December 2011, the Irish and UK Governments agreed measures within the EU to secure the external CTA border. A statement was signed working towards joint standards for entry and, ultimately, enhanced electronic border systems to identify those with no right to enter the CTA before they arrive at the border. An accompanying memorandum also promoted the exchange of information such as fingerprint biometrics and biographical details, particularly from high-risk countries, as part of the visa-issuing process. This data exchange aims to preventing abuses of the CTA arrangement while protecting the long-established benefits of trade and tourism. It was hoped that it would create considerable savings for both countries on removing foreign nationals with no right to stay. Nonetheless, a common travel area that includes an external EU border could well be significant and might raise considerable challenges for the open-border policy between the UK and Ireland.

We have to bear in mind that immigration is one of the key factors that underpins the antipathy to the EU in the UK. The Conservative Party manifesto for the UK general election in May of this year berated the Labour Party Governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for "their open borders policy". The Tories suggested that "for the past five years, we have been working to turn around the situation we inherited" and argued that "our action has not been enough to cut annual net migration to the tens of thousands [but] that ambition remains the right one". It is not impossible that issues with the CTA may arise over the next few years. We will rightly retain our commitment to free movement within the EU. I hope any obstacles will be overcome quickly. I remind the House that Norway, which is not in the EU, and Sweden have free movement between them. There is no reason that could not happen for Ireland and the UK in the event of a Brexit.

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