Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

They are very fair questions. It is important to say that, in practice, the CTA has been implemented administratively and more formally through sectoral agreements and legislation, where necessary and relevant, for example, the Citizens of United Kingdom and Colonies (Irish Citizenship Rights) Order 1949, the Aliens (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 1999, the Aliens (Exemption) Order 1999 and, in the UK, the Ireland Act 1949 and the Immigration Act 1971. That is the kind of legislation we have been relying on, most of which predates membership of the EU for Ireland and Britain.

What we are doing now at official level, internally within the Irish Government but also on a bilateral basis between Government officials here and their counterparts in the UK, is to work on the practical arrangements that need to be done here in Ireland and in the UK to maintain the kind of relationship we enjoy today as Irish citizens in the UK and UK citizens in Ireland. That work is well under way.

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