Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As my party's spokesperson on foreign affairs and trade, I welcome a further opportunity to speak on Brexit, but all of us would rather not to be in this position. The date 23 June of last year was a sad one for the EU, Ireland and, in particular, Britain, especially in light of the disgraceful and treacherous campaign run by the Brexiteers, the lies that were told and the unrealisable promises that were made. Now we see the reality of the Article 50 letter that Prime Minister May has submitted to the EU. We hoped that cool and calm heads would prevail as we transitioned through this phase, but the hard Brexiteers in the British Cabinet in London have won the day on what stance Britain will take. That Britain would look to remove itself completely from the Single Market and effectively from the customs union means in real terms that this will probably be the hardest of hard Brexits.

We must make it clear - my colleagues and I certainly do - that, as part of the negotiations, we are on the EU's side of the table. We have a centuries-old relationship with Britain, most of it not good, and we have a shared history, but Britain's history has tended to be imposed on us to the detriment of the Irish people. Only in recent times following Independence, the Good Friday Agreement and the peace that we enjoy in the North has that situation turned around. However, here we are with another example of Britain taking a wrong turn down the road, one that will drastically affect us and has the potential to damage our country, including people's livelihoods and quality of life. Our job as an Oireachtas and that of the Government is in the first instance to protect the interests of the Irish people in the Republic and the North. I will turn to the issue of the North shortly.

Consider the sectors that can be affected. We know the trade figures. There is €60 billion in trade between Ireland and Britain per year. Among others, our agrifood sector is dependent in that regard. However, we are a large and important market for Britain as well. We actually run a trade deficit with Britain. I have spent time in London speaking with people who bemoan their current situation and regret what has happened. Underneath the trade figures are people's jobs, incomes and their ability to feed their families, send them through education, pay mortgages and live the lives to which they aspire.

It was a reckless and treacherous act on the part of elements within the Tory Party. Now we have to live with it, but we must make as good a fist of it as possible. I understand the position taken in today's statements from the EU, particularly the Commission, to the effect that we should agree the terms of what has been termed the "divorce settlement" in advance of talks on the future relationship, but I hope that there will be overlap in real terms - there must be some - when we are deciding what the new arrangements will be when someone decides to leave.

I will turn to discuss a number of issues for my constituency, where aviation is important owing to the presence of Dublin Airport. The figures are stark. A total of 39% of all airline passenger traffic into Ireland is from the UK. The second busiest air route in the world, and the busiest European route, is Dublin-London. Dublin Airport accounts for 15,700 jobs directly and between 28 million and 29 million passengers. Consider the work that has been done by successive Governments, as well as by management and, importantly, staff at Dublin Airport and the airlines that fly out of it. It contributes 4% to GDP. This must be kept in mind.

I could pick any sector, for example, financial services or agrifood, which has seen a drop of nearly €600 million in the value of exports to Britain, because there are threats to jobs, livelihoods and homes in all sectors thanks to Brexit. My colleague, Deputy Donnelly, just reminded me that Mr. Michael O'Leary stated at the weekend that there was every possibility that, should these negotiations go off a cliff without agreement, UK flights would not be able to land within the EU or fly across its airspace for a number of weeks or months post the two-year negotiations. That might sound fanciful and ridiculous, but Britain has decided to pull out of the Open Skies agreement. The EU must ensure that the mechanisms and long-standing agreements between EU member states and associate states are adhered to. Who will be the regulator and so on?

The uncertainty over the free movement of goods and people poses a threat to aviation, including passenger flights and freight. The UK is moving away from the EU's liberalised market. I have spoken about Dublin Airport, but these major threats also affect Cork and Belfast airports. The British Government has not taken these matters into account.

The Irish Government must respond as opposed to just holding regular debates. Now that the British have outlined their plan, or lack thereof, seeing as how they do not know what they want, we must prioritise what is important to us and consider the risks to our sectors.

We have been led by some economists to believe there will be an upside to Brexit in terms of the stream of financial services and insurance companies looking to relocate to Dublin and the jobs that will ensue from that. As the Minister knows, that has not happened. While we were in the running in a number of areas some of the major companies have decided to locate elsewhere. I am not suggesting we can win them all. I am not convinced that in terms of our response, reaction and readiness we have been up to scratch.

In regard to the agrifood sector, 37% of all Irish foods and 50% of all dairy and beef exports are to the UK. It is estimated that in 2016 almost €600 million in the value of trade was wiped out because of the depreciation in sterling. These are real issues that arose pre-submission of the Article 50 letter. I earnestly hope the EU, with Ireland at the table as one of the EU 27, can move towards a reasonable agreement. Nobody wants to punish the UK but it cannot be outside the EU and at the same time have all that is good without any of the responsibilities. I cannot see how we can marry free access to the Single Market with restriction on the movement of European Union citizens. That is something that I personally could not agree with.

In regard to Northern Ireland, I remind the Minister that this Dáil voted on a Sinn Féin motion, amended and added to by Fianna Fáil, to give the North of Ireland special status in the negotiations. That motion was agreed. We should have insisted on that at the outset of our negotiations. The largest proportion of EU citizens that will be outside the European Union post-Brexit will be in the North of Ireland. We have a duty of care to Northern Ireland. We are a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. A citizen born in Belfast is as entitled to his or her Irish citizenship as any citizen born in Dublin or in any of the 26 counties. I believe the Government gave up on that even before the negotiations started. I ask that the Government look to what Spain has been able to achieve, even by way of mention of Gibraltar and the over-the-top reaction of some of the Tories in the UK. Obviously, the Spanish had lobbied for mention of Gibraltar. I know that we have a much stronger case to make because a sizeable proportion of the people in the North of Ireland have a close and earnest affiliation of citizenship in Ireland.

This is multifaceted. As negotiations move forward we will need to find a mechanism in the Oireachtas to allow our Ministers and the Government to report back on the various sectors and to work actively to protect jobs in the areas I mentioned, including aviation, horticulture and agrifood.

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