Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Today, the European Parliament heard from the head of the EU negotiation team, Mr. Michel Barnier. It is appropriate that Brexit is being discussed in the directly-elected European Parliament, as well as our Parliament, as the major challenge to our democratic institutions for the coming years. Brexit must mean that we examine the reasons on our side for a narrow decision of the British people to leave the EU. Valid criticisms of the EU have not yet been addressed by the remaining member states. I say this as someone who believes strongly in the EU but notes that its democratic institutions are increasingly seen as distant and irrelevant to the lives of our ordinary citizens.

As a businessman, I tend to take a pragmatic approach to decision-making. When a business makes a decision that proves down the road to be mistaken, the only sensible, mature and responsible action is to cut the losses and reverse that decision. I say this because I firmly believe that Ireland and the EU need to construct a negotiating framework that allows the people of the UK to reflect on the massive implications of a simplistic referendum result. Of those who voted, 48% did not want to leave. There are profound and long-lasting negative consequences for the people of the UK that were never sufficiently discussed during the charged and highly-emotive campaign. In fact, the unity of the UK has been put at risk by Brexit.

Ireland and the UK have often shared the same criticisms of the EU. The immense amount of European red tape that frustrates businesses, farmers, rural communities, fishermen and all other citizens is but one example of the distance that needs to be bridged between EU institutions and programmes and the ordinary EU citizens. The challenge is to deepen the EU. We must deepen the relationship between each EU citizen and the EU. That is a long-overdue conversation. If the EU addresses some much-needed reforms that bring the Union closer to citizens and the negotiations are conducted by the EU in a forthright and fair manner, I am convinced that there will be a serious and cross-party movement within the UK to rejoin the EU.

I say this because of my background in the tourism industry in Wicklow, where I have worked all my life and where visitors from the UK comprise the largest and most important market. I have been serving UK visitors for decades and know that they are pragmatic, common-sense customers. I know from the tourism industry in Wicklow that UK visitor numbers have fallen since the final quarter of 2016 and that the UK as an alternative tourist destination is increasingly becoming more competitive and attractive to our international visitor market, which is another threat to our tourism sector that is hardly ever mentioned in this debate.

Tourism is a major industry for Ireland and a key pillar of Wicklow's economic model. Brexit is the greatest threat to Irish tourism since the start of the Northern Troubles in the 1960s. We must face the challenge to tourism with appropriate gravity and evaluate and exploit whatever opportunities may exist. There are thousands of jobs at stake in Wicklow and east Carlow between farming, agribusiness and tourism. Brexit is potentially an economic disaster for those sectors. The Irish Government needs to put together a package of measures with EU buy-in that protects and enhances the economic model in counties such as Wicklow and Carlow.

I will conclude by mentioning an industry that rarely gets attention in the debate on Brexit, that is, fishing. Wicklow's fishing industry has not been well served by the EU, to say the least. Brexit probably represents the last opportunity to reset the relationship between the remaining Irish fishing communities and the EU. The decline of the Irish fishing industry is a hidden scandal that has been ignored for too long. We need to use Brexit to reopen the rules pertaining to the fishing fleet, the quota system and access to our own and UK waters.

This is a critical moment for Ireland, the EU and the UK. I implore the Government and the EU to reform our own failings, to treat the UK with respect and generosity of spirit and to lay the groundwork for the day when we can celebrate the return of a valued partner.

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