Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have only five minutes and I wish to focus on a few issues. Firstly, on a personal level but also as a Minister in Government, I believe the UK has made a bad decision. It is bad for the European Union and it is certainly bad for Ireland and for Northern Ireland. In time I believe that many people in Britain will live to regret the decision also. From Ireland's perspective, the Government's responsibility now is to try to manage the fallout from that decision for those who live North of the Border and for so many businesses and families who have a connection with and a reliance on the UK market. I have much experience of working with UK Ministers at a ministerial level. When I was chairing the Council of Ministers, the UK brought a significant importance to the CAP negotiation process. Other colleagues here will be familiar with the contribution that the UK makes to the Common Fisheries Policy. The European Union will be a significantly weaker bloc without the United Kingdom. This is regrettable at a time when we have perhaps more global challenges than we have ever faced before and when we need a collective response to many of those challenges and to ensure those responses are comprehensive. A large member state of the European Union has chosen to leave and to isolate itself politically for reasons that I believe many people are not quite sure of yet. The decision will create uncertainty and distraction for a period of at least two years, if not more, while the UK, Ireland and other countries manage the process of the exit from the European Union, with all of the uncertainties that brings. The process will involve demands made by the UK and political responses that will come the other way from the European Union.

I agree with other speakers that it is important that the European Union attempt to have a collective response to this situation rather than allowing individual countries to make frustrating statements about the United Kingdom. In the immediate aftermath of this decision by the UK, my focus, and the focus of the Government and all Members in the House, needs to be on the creation of a calm and pragmatic response that actually minimises potential problems and takes any opportunities.

There are many potential problems. As a former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine I am very familiar with the €7 billion of trade that Ireland has with the United Kingdom each year - about €4.5 billion in exports and approximately €3 billion in imports. I am familiar with the issues surrounding the free movement of livestock across the Border. Ireland does not have the luxury of choosing either the EU or Britain in terms of a close future relationship. Ireland's response needs to be about protecting what is important for both relationships; Ireland's relationship with Britain is a hugely important one on many levels. It needs to be to protected. Our relationship with the European Union is equally important, and that needs to be protected. However, we must not allow ourselves to be caught in a situation of choosing one over the other. Instead, we need to insist, as an active and hugely relevant member of the European Union in the context of Brexit, that understanding be shown and that we ensure Ireland's relationship with both partners is maintained through a very difficult exit procedure over the next two years.

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