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

Many, quite rightly, would now acknowledge that those who scripted Article 50 did not envisage that any member state would be leaving. Article 50 certainly has its limitations. We now have the date from the British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, as to when they will trigger Article 50.

There will be two processes. It goes back to the question that Deputy Eamon Ryan asked about the vote of the Dáil. The new relationship - the trade agreement, the mixed agreement that it will be - will be put before every parliament and it could be many years before this deal is concluded.

The issue of the UK leaving, the so-called "withdrawal", the Article 50 provision, is in and of itself very tight. In fact, with respect to the new relationship, it has quite a limited text with respect to a reference to the new agreement taking place in due course. The view of the European Council and of the task force takes into account the legal position. We, clearly, will be more impacted on whatever this new relationship is than anyone else - Northern Ireland perhaps more so than ourselves - and we will have an acute interest in making sure that this new relationship is as strong as possible.

Equally, in order to make any progress, according to Mr. Barnier and his task force, and, indeed, the legal position, the task force will determine four areas - the issue of the two institutions, the banking authority and the medicines agency but also, crucially, from an Irish point of view, issues pertaining to Ireland, the reciprocal rights issue and the bill. They will be tackled in the first round. That is a requirement of the treaty. From our point of view, if we can secure early progress on the common travel area, there is the potential that we can advance many of our strategic concerns.

As many will be aware, there will be difficulty. Much of the dialogue we have heard from London with respect to the so-called "Brexit bill" has been exceptionally unhelpful. It does not fairly reflect the fact that for 45 plus years the United Kingdom has entered into contractual agreements with the other 27 member states. What we need to focus in on is the methodology as to how a bill is arrived at but it is inaccurate, in fact unfair, to describe this amount of money as some form of punitive fine for a democratic choice that they have made.

With respect to acquired rights, I hope they will follow the straightforward principle that there would be a reciprocal arrangement for UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK. Clearly, at the earliest possible time, we will have to start talking in our country with our partners about the form of the new relationship.

6 o’clock

However, I am very strongly of the view that, first, it is in our interest strategically to have significant progress on the common travel area and securing our peace process. We must establish clearly that when it comes to the common travel area and the peace process, our concerns in Ireland are unique. I have been in many countries around the EU recently and the Deputy and others have visited the European institutions in the past number of weeks. As such, I note that while we have significant trade concerns, many countries share the concerns we have on trade. Denmark, for example, has a similar profile. While we will be the most affected member state, we will not be uniquely affected in some elements with respect to trade. However, the common travel area and peace are issues unique to us, which is why getting something on that early in the process is in our strategic interest. We can then deal in due course with the issue of trade.

It is stark to make the statement that every member state will have a vote on the new agreement when it comes in due course. We saw what happened with the Wallonia province in Belgium with respect to CETA. I am not getting into the rights and wrongs of that determination. The question about the issue of the withdrawal is ultimately a matter for the people of the United Kingdom who seek to leave. It would not be possible for the other 27 member states to vote to stop them from leaving. The national parliaments will, rightly, have a role in determining what our new relationship will be. We have been very clear as has everybody in the House with the exception of Deputy Richard Boyd Farage sounding a rant which completely forgot that Farage, UKIP and the new Solidarity, as they are called this week, were on the same side of the argument that the UK should leave. Unfortunately for the people of the UK, this was a poor choice, but we must accept it here.

Listening to everybody else who spoke today in the Dáil, I heard reasoned argument and criticism of the Government requiring us to do more in some instances, with some compliments also. That sort of populist narrative was not successful in the Netherlands last week and it has been quite damaging in the UK. We hope it will not be damaging in France and other member states. It is very unwelcome because as the Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs accurately said, we need to pull together. In that regard, I note to Deputies Crowe and Donnelly that the groups in the European Parliament are of huge importance to us. Deputy Howlin mentioned his socialist colleagues and the EEP group, but all the groups will have influence. I urge all Members of the House and their parties to continue to engage because this will be a collective effort.

See this speech in context