Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will look at the nature of the questions and the way they come in and see whether we can make them more compatible with the views of Deputies opposite, to have them bracketed in a different way. I agree that Brexit is a one-off and very different issue, but the questions in regard to relations between Britain, Northern Ireland and ourselves are grouped.

The first thing to say is that, as Deputy Martin is well aware, the Government here is absolutely committed to doing everything we can to ensure the Irish vote in Britain votes to stay on 23 June. That is why I asked all Irish people in Britain yesterday to ensure they are registered by 7 June and to vote to stay in the European Union on 23 June. It is also important to differentiate, in that while we have almost 1 million people living in Britain, this is a matter for the British electorate, of which the Irish make up almost 1 million. It is their decision. No more than Europeans coming over here to tell us what to do with the Lisbon treaty or the Nice treaty or the Maastricht treaty, I am quite sure that people in Britain would not take too kindly to being lectured by others about what they should do. We have been very careful in what we have done, in talking to Irish communities, Irish councils and any mayors of municipalities or cities who are of Irish descent or have Irish connections. We want to speak to the Irish communities and to remind them of the importance of the decision they are about to make, both because of the exports of over €1.2 billion that go across the Irish Sea every week and because this is a fundamental decision that must be made.

I expect that Deputy Martin himself may avail of an opportunity that we will make available to go and speak to Irish communities somewhere in Britain on this topic to show there is unanimity from the main parties here about Britain remaining a member of the European Union.

We have already committed ourselves, irrespective of what happens, to staying with Europe, the eurozone and the euro. However, I do not want to give the impression that a unit within the Department of the Taoiseach is suddenly beavering away as if the outcome of this referendum is known. It is not known. In recent days, as Deputy Martin is aware, there has been a strengthening of the position for Britain to stay as a member of the European Union, although I cannot predict, nor can anybody else, what will be the eventual outcome. It is true to say, and Deputy Martin has put his finger on an important point, that we in this country have been voting on referenda for more than 40 years. The Irish community generally is aware of the existence of the European Commission, Parliament and the Council, but that is not the case to the same extent in Britain because it has had very few referenda on the question of Europe. It is of real and the utmost significance that the population be as informed as it can be about the choice to be made.

Academic papers have been published, of which Deputies are aware. We would have to think very carefully about what the outcome would be for Ireland if Britain were to vote to leave the EU. Clearly, the extent to which GDP in this State would drop, the increase in costs for exporters and currency fluctuations are unknown. If the UK were to leave the EU, there would be negotiations about the consequences of the exit for at least two years and beyond. I do not want to give the impression that the Irish Government has been focusing entirely on a result that we do not know about. We have been focused, with the British Government, its Ministers and with businesses, on saying that it is really important to make the decision to stay.

With regard to Northern Ireland, I did not discuss the situation with First Minister Arlene Foster this morning. We will hold a meeting on 10 June in Dublin and the issue will more than likely be raised then. I take the point about single bodies for, maybe, a different move here. These meetings, as the Deputy knows, can become quite staid after a number of years, and while the issues are important, there is always movement in between. I recall after the 1996 Canary Wharf bombing that we were to attend the big tourism show in Earl's Court and people suggested that the trip be called off altogether. Instead, we put the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the former Bord Fáilte onto the one stand, and for the first time ever, Irish people from the island of Ireland were able to promote the tourism facilities North and South from the one exhibition stand. Out of that came an understanding that this was one area where there should not be disagreement. If we consider the support from the Government through Fáilte Ireland for what is now the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, which was held in Northern Ireland, it can be seen that we provide such support as necessary throughout the country.

In respect of the issue raised about Stormont, I spoke to the First Minister this morning. She believes that while there was a method by which the Alliance Party held the Justice portfolio in the Executive, the Alliance Party made particular demands of both parties in the Executive that they were not prepared to concede. My understanding, from speaking to the First Minister today, is that they will be able to arrive at a conclusion to this today. Otherwise, under the law, another election will be triggered because of the failure to meet the d'Hondt requirement. Moving away from power sharing is a move towards more normalised government because there is a majority between Sinn Féin and the DUP against other parties. If that is the wish of the SDLP, the UUP and the Alliance Party and so on, that is their wish as elected Members. It means that the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly will be able to function and get on with the business of the devolved powers and authority given to it following Stormont.

The Deputy raises the point often about the failure to engage regularly with Northern Ireland. We have been very busy with it, and in defence of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, he was there for ten weeks in a row working on the Stormont House Agreement. There is a great deal of activity going on and I would be happy to talk to the Deputy about that. If he feels there are other areas where we could evolve some of the companies and some of the cross-Border issues, I would be happy to consider that.

As the Deputy knows, we continue to support some of the infrastructure in the North for access to the north west and there is a sharing of that effort.

These are issues that are all now dependent on what happens on 23 June. For our part, we have made it perfectly clear that we want to work with the British Government, the British people and British business. I commend Michael O'Leary and others who have spoken out about the disastrous consequences for business, jobs and Irish jobs were the British electorate to vote to leave the European Union. It is a big decision, but it is their decision. However, within that group of people, we have almost 1 million Irish people who are entitled to vote on this issue and we want them to vote for Britain to stay as a member of the European Union.

We have had a common travel area since 1922. We do not want that to be in any way disrupted. It allows for travel north, south, east and west on a regular basis as needs be. There are, of course, other implications, which the British Government well understands, concerning the social benefits of Irish participation and our working in Britain over many years. These are all issues of concern to us. If, at the end of the day, the British electorate were to decide to leave, we will have to deal with the consequences. While some preparatory analysis has been considered, the vast majority of our emphasis has been to work with the British Government, British business and the British people to say how important it is that Europe would be a stronger union with Britain as a central member and that Ireland, as a consequence, would be able to continue to maintain our jobs and association with British business across the water.

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