Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the House and the Deputy that the Government is a firm supporter of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, but the Good Friday Agreement predates that charter and does not expressly provide for it. That said, the charter provides an important and effective common reference on rights across the island of Ireland, as it does across the EU as a whole.

I wish to refer again to the White Paper on legislating for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. The British Government expressly indicated that the provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Northern Ireland will not be applied as part of British law after the UK leaves the EU. This may require that a consideration may be given to alternative means of ensuring the coherence of rights frameworks across the island of Ireland. This was a key theme of the sectoral dialogue in Maynooth and I am pleased that the Deputy's party was represented at that conference. The value of a charter of rights for the island of Ireland, as referred to in the Good Friday Agreement, would also support the provision in the agreement on the matter of equivalence of rights across the island.

My priority at all times is to ensure that all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement are respected, not only here but also in the context of the UK-EU negotiations. It is an issue that forms part of the current talks in Northern Ireland that will hopefully result in a successful restoration of the power-sharing Executive and its institutions. We will continue to be proactive in working to mitigate all aspects of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU across the island of Ireland.

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