Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The document lays out the Government's objectives for what it wanted to secure in the European Commission guidelines. None of us will be surprised to find that having been published after the guidelines, it would appear that the Minister has gotten everything he was looking for. That is interesting timing.

There has been much talk on the veto for Gibraltar. I accept that the legal situation is different, but the political situation is much more pressing in Northern Ireland than it is in Gibraltar. I will ask a straight question. Did the Irish Government seek a veto? Accepting that they are different legal situations, was a veto on Northern Ireland sought by the Irish Government as part of the negotiations?

In the just-published Government strategy on Brexit, the Government still refers to the common travel area existing in conformity with EU law. I have only had a chance to skim the document.

It is welcome that the document explains that the common travel area involves more than travel; it concerns access to public services and social protection. What I did not see was a reference to the right to work. I apologise if it is included, but I have not seen it. The reciprocity of rights that Irish and UK citizens enjoy is comprehensive. They include the right to travel, the right to access social protection and public services, the right to vote and also the right to work. Will the Minister explain to the House whether it is his objective and within his strategy to include in the ongoing recognition of the common travel area the right for Irish citizens to work in the United Kingdom and the right of UK citizens to work in Ireland? It is not included in the strategy, but it is referenced in it by the line "in conformity with UK law". In the UK commission guidelines the sentiment that the relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom will be respected in EU law comes up again. Is the Government doing any work and will the Minister share with the House any Government positions on what is and is not in conformity with EU law when it comes to Northern Ireland and the common travel area?

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