Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In reading the motion and the amendments for this evening's Private Members' business one would have to say that we all agree upon an enormous amount of the content of both. We had a very constructive meeting of the Committee on European Union Affairs today. Again, representatives from Fianna Fáil were there. Deputies Haughey and Crowe were present. To date, we have demonstrated two characteristics regarding how we engage with these negotiations. The first has been the strong level of consensus among parties here in the Dáil while the second has been a very strong consensus about the absolute importance the Government and people attach to the issues and challenges that will be faced by our brothers and sisters in Northern Ireland. I have had very good engagement with Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Deputy Crowe and members of Fianna Fáil and other groups. Listening to the Taoiseach's speech in the Mansion House today, one could see that nobody on these islands is attaching as much importance to the special circumstances that will pertain to the people of Northern Ireland and citizens of the Republic of Ireland who live in Border regions.

The one part of today's debate that we must acknowledge is the fact that the Good Friday Agreement legally binds us to a process of consent with respect to the position of Northern Ireland within the UK. It is true to say that the people of Northern Ireland voted to remain within the EU, as did the people of Scotland and people in London, but the UK did not. We must come up with a framework to deal with the new reality we have, a reality we did not want which will see a part of this island experience extreme difficulty as we will experience it ourselves through a decision taken by the UK. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs chaired by Deputy Michael Healy-Rae held meetings in Brussels last week and saw some of the work we have been doing.

I will touch briefly on an issue that has been raised today particularly strongly by Fianna Fáil, namely, the argument for a Brexit Minister. As we move into the negotiations, they will be broken into sectors and modules. For example, Council formations dealing with issues relating to agriculture and transport could take place in different cities and countries with some to be held in Brussels and some in Luxembourg. Only one country has a Brexit minister and that is the country that is leaving the EU, which is the UK. We believe that the Department that should lead these discussion is the Department of the Taoiseach because it will be the European Council that will make the decisions. The preparation for those decisions will be made, as always happens in Europe, in different pieces and sections. Our permanent representative office or embassy in Brussels is already divided into the sectors of discussion that will take place.

I compliment the members of the Committee on European Union Affairs and restate that regardless of whether it is through the European United Left-Nordic Green Left group, of which Sinn Féin is a member; the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, of which Fianna Fáil is a member; the socialists or other groups, politics in Europe works differently to the way it works here. Every political party will have a very strong role in delivering. As I said at the outset, we do not find much disagreement about our message apart from the real world difficulty with which we must deal concerning the Good Friday Agreement and the fact that while a significant number of people in Northern Ireland did vote to remain in the EU, there is no indication that they would vote to achieve what we would like to achieve, which is a united Ireland.

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