Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was quite surprised at the tone of Deputy Lisa Chambers' remarks earlier. I can only presume the Deputy is trying to stake her claim to the strategy of Deputy Micheál Martin, which is to attack Sinn Féin at every single opportunity. Deputy Chambers started her contribution by saying she was not sure why we are here discussing this Bill. I know why I am here. I respect the Minister and I have a lot of admiration for the work he does but I am here to keep the Government to account. That is part of my responsibility. If the Teachta Dála from Mayo is not sure then she should refrain from so much negativity. It is also no surprise that Fianna Fáil supports the Government on this Bill because the Government, of course, is Fianna Fáil's partner on so many other issues.

The Deputy launched into a tirade about the collapse of the Assembly even though her own leader called for its suspension, which Sinn Féin resisted in dire and difficult circumstances. It was only when Martin McGuinness, God rest him, could go no further that he resigned his post. The Deputy should also know that we - I was a part of it just before our recent Ard-Fheis - negotiated a draft agreement with the DUP.

Fianna Fáil played a positive role in the negotiations on the Good Friday Agreement. Even if it has a new generation, Fianna Fáil should therefore be for the full implementation of the agreement, including the referendum on unity, which is a crucial part of it and without which republicans in Sinn Féin would not have signed up to the agreement. Are Deputies referring to Sinn Féin's "hypocrisy" because we want accountability? That tells its own story.

I agree with the Tánaiste on much of what he has said about the need for unity of purpose in the Dáil and with our EU partners and on his acknowledgement of the work that has been done. I am not sure that I can say it definitively, but I am probably the only Deputy present who campaigned in the North against Brexit. I do not know whether any Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Labour Deputy was up there. I was there. We won, in that the people of the North voted to remain. That vote needs to be upheld and to form part of what we are considering.

The Tánaiste will bear witness to the fact that Sinn Féin has been active through our MPs, MLAs and, significantly and with great success, our MEPs. I do not believe that Fianna Fáil has an MEP at this time. Regardless, our team has done the work and we represent people from across the entire island of Ireland.

Let us discuss part of the difficulty. The Tánaiste rightly stated that there was a need for caution. We know that one cannot trust the Brits. That is the reality, speaking in a west Belfast way. I do not mean the British people, the decent people whom I know there with all of the connectedness. I have great friends there. When I talk about the Brits, I mean the British Government. One cannot trust them. One certainly cannot trust the Tories.

On Tuesday, the Tánaiste stated that he was confident that the British Prime Minister would deliver on her commitment to avoid border controls. I asked whether that would be by June, but he fudged the answer because he did not know any more than I did whether the Brits would come up with something by then and probably presumed they would not, that they would try to play it right down to the wire and then cobble something together. I remember a former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, God rest him, telling us a story. He had agreed the Downing Street Declaration with the British Prime Minister John Major. He was getting make-up put on when John Major nipped in behind him and asked him whether he would change a little bit of it. This was after the thing had been done and dusted. We know how this works. We have had plenty of experience.

Contrast with the Tánaiste's statement that he is confident that the British Prime Minister will deliver on her commitment to avoid border controls with his statement during this debate: "It is, therefore, more important than ever that the UK engage in a more detailed and realistic way on the draft protocol, including the backstop... in advance of the June European Council meeting." One can only interpret that in west Belfast terms by saying that the UK has not engaged in a detailed and realistic way on the draft protocol, including the backstop, up to this point. Contrast that with what the Taoiseach is saying, namely, that the British will table a new proposal on a future customs relationship within the next two weeks and that this is new thinking.

These are all reasons to be cautious. Of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed; it is game on, we are all wearing the green geansaí and we support the Government in what it is doing. As our people used to tell me all the time, "You are doing very well, so far". We have to keep our eyes on the prize and watch everything that is happening.

I conceded at the outset that this Bill had been tabled at the beginning of last year. It was not my responsibility that this took so long. The Bill was relevant then when we did not have the current approach, which I have commended the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on, of reporting to the Dáil regularly and using various structures that have been set up to inform and reach out to parties. To be frank, the previous Taoiseach did not have a clue about how matters stood and the Fianna Fáil leader was not much better at the time. At least we have a more joined-up and informed approach. That is right but it is not statutory, and this Bill, which was published quite a long time ago, was trying to correct that situation.

The Government and Fianna Fáil will oppose the Bill, so it will fall. There we go - accountability. Would the sensible thing to do not be to send the Bill to a committee so that the bits that had been overtaken by time could be rooted out and we could ensure that these issues were dealt with on a statutory basis? There has been so much talk in recent times about accountability and so many protestations by politicians that they will sort all of this out. Here we are on an issue not as personal or emotive as some of the issues the House has dealt with in recent times, but one that could have calamitous consequences for all of the people of this island.

Since Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour are not organised in the North, let me tell them that the position of the nationalist people of the North has changed hugely in the past two or three years. The new generation of well educated, informed, connected and successful young people will not put up with what others may have been forced to put up with in the past. It is spelled out in the backstop agreement - I do not have it before me - that our rights will be upheld. The Taoiseach remarked: "Your birthright as Irish citizens and, therefore, as Europeans has been protected." He also referred to the need for the British Government to facilitate the work of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the joint committee of representatives of the human rights commissions, North and South. I have not received a report on this and it has not been addressed. Similarly, there would be "no diminution of human rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity set out in" the Good Friday Agreement. Again, I have not received a report on this. That is not the Minister's fault because, obviously, the Brits have not negotiated, to my knowledge anyway, on those-----

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