Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

After the vote in the UK on 23 June 2016, I said in the House that it would be regrettable that a considerable amount of time, effort and resources would have to be expended by the Government, and public administration generally, trying to sort out the Brexit fallout. I said then that this would ensure policy-making in other areas would be delayed. One only need look at the crisis in our health services or the housing crisis to see these effects.

The concerns of Ireland then are still the concerns now, namely, the need to maintain the common travel area, the need to avoid a hard border between North and South, as well as the need to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. The British Prime Minister and European Commission have also agreed these issues need to be addressed. I welcome the support of Michel Barnier, European chief negotiator for Brexit, and Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit co-ordinator, for the view that the Irish question has to be addressed before moving to the next stage of the negotiations dealing with the new trade relationship. Their support given in this Chamber is most welcome. In his address last week in this Chamber, Guy Verhofstadt said ultimately the UK will have to propose and agree solutions to the Irish problem.

This is a concern. The UK’s Conservative Government has to deal with many problems, not just Brexit which is taking up much of its time. I am not sure Northern Ireland will be high on its list of priorities. Much of what the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, said in her Florence speech on 22 September, however, is to be welcomed. She spoke about the need to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the common travel area. She also ruled out any physical infrastructure at the Border. It is hard to see, however, how this can be achieved, given the UK is intent on leaving the customs union. For that reason, Fianna Fáil advocates the establishment of a special economic zone for Northern Ireland and the Border counties to enable them to maintain links with the European Union. I hope the Government will give serious consideration to this proposal and signal it to the UK Government in whatever way is deemed appropriate. It is also unfortunate that the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly are not in place. They are very much needed at this time.

Will the Government publish the proposed Brexit sectorial response plans? We need to properly resource and staff State agencies and do more to ensure diversification into new markets for Irish businesses. It does not look like sufficient progress will be made in the next few weeks on the three main issues at this stage of the negotiations, namely, the rights of UK citizens living in the EU and EU citizens living in the UK, the EU budget commitments and the Irish situation. As regards the future relationship, particularly in respect of trade, an overall solution as far as Ireland is concerned should involve a free trade agreement with conditions which mirror, as far as is practicable, the provisions of the customs union and the Single Market, together with lengthy transitional arrangements.

Members have already spoken about the future of Europe. A debate on the future of Europe, initiated by the European Commission, is now under way. It has taken on added impetus with the election of Emmanuel Macron in France and the re-election of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Ireland should remain at the heart of the European Union and should be fully committed to playing a full and active role in planning the EU. That said, we should pay particular attention to the speech made this week by the French President in which he called for further EU integration. In particular, he called for a common intervention force, defence budget and strategy and requested a European defence fund be established quickly. He also called for minimum and maximum corporate tax rates to be replaced by 2020. He suggested access to EU Cohesion Fund be conditional on respect for these rates. All food for thought but Ireland will have to be particularly vigilant with regard to these two particular issues as the debate continues. As the Franco-German axis is fully restored, the interests of small nation states must not be forgotten.

We need a public consultation in this country as regards the future of the European Union. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs has initiated a process at parliamentary party level and brought in various stakeholders. The Irish public needs to be aware of this debate, these developments and have an input into the type of future European Union which we all want to see.

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