Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In fairness, the Minister of State read as fast as she could. The next few weeks in the Brexit negotiations are critical. Our citizens, business community, farmers and Members in this House are genuinely concerned that we are not in a better place at this late stage in negotiations. We were supposed to have a withdrawal treaty finalised by 18 October and the backstop issue resolved in order that we could assure the Irish people that there will be no border on this island. Recent events have left a nervous feeling across the board and time is not on our side. We are continuously told about what has been agreed to date but there has been very little movement in recent months. The key issues for Ireland remain unresolved and we appear to be at a stalemate. We need to focus now and do everything we can from an Irish Government perspective to ensure that a deal is reached. The alternative scenario where there is an no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic for Ireland.

It is essential at this juncture that calm prevails. The UK leaving the EU without an agreement is not in the interests of any party; it would cause economic harm to all concerned, particularly to Ireland. I assume that we are still working to the 18 October deadline. The Tánaiste said the Irish issues should be resolved by that date, but it seems deadlines in this Brexit process are merely something to be casually stepped over before we move on to the next so-called deadline, which now appears to be November.

It would be most helpful if the Minister of State could outline to this House, in a serious manner, exactly where we are in these negotiations. What does she expect will be achieved by the October meeting, if anything? What is happening with the Irish backstop? Are the Minister of State and the officials from her Department actually working on this? Are negotiations going on behind the scenes with British officials, or are we simply leaving it to Mrs. Theresa May and her government to solve this issue on its own? I would suggest that is a very risky strategy for Ireland.

Negotiations are at an extremely delicate stage, and I understand that Mr. Michel Barnier is attempting to "de-dramatise" the backstop. That is the buzz-phrase at the moment. The megaphone diplomacy and celebratory tone employed by the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach in the aftermath of the December agreement was a misstep, as I have said on a number of occasions. The comments were ill-judged and premature, and we have been paying for them ever since. "We are where we are" is the phrase used, but it is ten months since we were told that a backstop was agreed, and it is still not agreed. Understandably, all communities in the North and citizens living along the Border are losing faith in the Government’s ability to deliver on backstop to ensure we do not have a border on this island, hard or soft. We are sailing dangerously close to the wind by allowing this issue to remain unresolved as we move towards the final stages of the negotiations. This undoubtedly weakens our position; even if the Minister of State says it does not. I believe it does. The impression was given at our last stakeholder meeting that something was happening on the backstop behind the scenes and that we were more or less there, but in Salzburg that seemed to evaporate in a matter of minutes, with Theresa May saying she did not think the UK would have anything on the backstop by the October meeting. When we, as Opposition spokespersons, attend these meetings we do so in good faith so we can engage with the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, ask questions and get a serious update. However, this side of the House does not feel properly informed or briefed by the Government, and there is little information from those meetings that I cannot read in The Irish Times. It is often said that the Government wants and needs the support of the Opposition, but I think it has been given a fair degree of latitude in that respect. That latitude must be reciprocate by the Government's side, by informing this House what exactly it is doing and where we are with these negotiations. If people are kept in the dark they will inevitably fill in the blanks themselves.

As the Minister of State said, Ireland is the most vulnerable member state in these negotiations. Without a doubt, we stand to be most affected by Brexit, regardless of the type of Brexit that emerges. With in the region of €1 billion of trade weekly between Ireland and the UK, it is by far our largest market and trading partner, and I think some in the Government need to be reminded of this. More than 50% of our beef, more than 70% of our dairy and more than 70% of our timber products go to the UK. These are among a number of sectors that stand to be seriously impacted by Brexit. Even before we deal with additional tariffs - if they apply when the UK becomes a third country - there are the expected delays with new customs procedures and delays at the ports in Dublin, Dover and Calais, all of which impact on the cost of trade. One can image the impact of a delay of two days in the transit of produce if that produce is perishable, for example, mushrooms or cheese. All of a sudden the delivery of those products is called into question. The immediate impact of a no deal or bad deal Brexit would be the fluctuation in currency between the pound and the euro, which we saw when the referendum took place. This can severely impact cashflow overnight. We have to bear all of this in mind when we sit at the Brexit negotiating table.

I want to acknowledge the fantastic work being done by Enterprise Ireland, which I met with earlier today, in helping Irish companies to prepare for Brexit and to diversify their markets. It is welcome to see that exports to the UK as a percentage of total exports have fallen over the last ten years. We are gradually reducing our dependence on that market, but we will always need and want to trade with our closest neighbour. A good working relationship and the ability to trade as freely as possible with the UK post-Brexit is absolutely essential. Another area of great concern is haulage and the delivery of goods to and from this country. The Irish Haulage Association has outlined its concerns that around 70% of its drivers are from eastern Europe. They are driving Irish trucks, but they will not be covered by the common travel area. Will these workers, who are driving Irish trucks and helping to stock the shelves in our supermarkets and pharmacies across Ireland, need special work permits? What work has been done behind the scenes to deal with that particular issue? In fairness, the issue has been highlighted at length.

In terms of our domestic preparedness, which the Minister of State touched on in her speech, it might surprise her to know that my party submitted a number of freedom of information, FOI, requests to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to try to get some information on the preparations for a no deal or hard Brexit which have been carried out, and about the hiring of inspectors. Those FOI requests were refused. We appealed the refusal, and it was refused again. What kind of approach is that to take? If we are all working together on the same team and the Government wants the support of the Opposition parties, and it is preparing for all eventualities, surely it would want us to know about it. Perhaps the Minister of State can look into that matter and consider whether those records can be released to my party.

The Dutch Government announced at the start of the year that it would hire 750 new customs officers. It completed the hiring of 1,000 new customs officers in early July and is now training those people. We are in the process of hiring around 400 customs officers. Ireland and the Netherlands have similar levels of trade with UK. This is one area where we can do better to prepare. We should be better prepared because Brexit will affect Ireland more than any other member state.

I want to touch on what happened in Salzburg last week. The informal summit revealed that there is still a substantial chasm between the EU and UK negotiation teams, and it was a pity that the summit was used to provoke rather than persuade. It was most regrettable that the whole affair went so badly; it set the negotiations back. It was an informal summit and nobody was expecting a major breakthrough or for Brexit to be solved in its entirety, but equally we were not expecting it to descend into such bitterness. The optics of that summit were not good for Ireland. Our Taoiseach was seen across media in Ireland and the UK strolling side by side with the French President, who gave a considerable kick to Theresa May at that summit. The British Prime Minister, rightly or wrongly, went home feeling as though she had been ambushed, and the British media loudly declared that she had been humiliated by the EU 27 the next day. In fairness to the Tánaiste, Deputy Coveney, he appeared on the BBC that night in what I believe was a damage limitation exercise. He did quite a good interview, and reminded the British people and the UK Government that we are still neighbours and that we still want to trade and work with them, and that we very much want them to make a deal. That was the correct thing to do, and necessary considering the events in Salzburg that day.

Britain needs our help. It is one thing to enjoy beating England at soccer or other sporting events, but at the end of the day, a triumphalist approach is not going to serve our interests either. If the UK crashes out, it will be extremely bad for us, to put it mildly. We need the UK to get a deal. We should be using our influence at that negotiating table to ensure there is a good deal for Ireland, the UK and the EU as a whole.

We need serious focus now on getting a deal delivered for our citizens, North and South, and for citizens across the EU. We need less spinning from Government, less focus on PR and more focus on getting the job done. Not every meeting has to be tweeted or the stage set for every engagement. The Government should be aware of the optics, because they matter; we do not necessarily have to damage relationships between ourselves and the UK. It is extremely important that the relationship, which is under pressure, is worked on. Every Minister in government should be meeting regularly with his or her counterpart in the UK. We need to see some concrete proposals as to what exactly that future engagement is going to look like post-Brexit, and what type of mechanism or system will be in place to ensure we have regular contact with our counterparts across the water.

Brexit was not of our making or of our choosing, and the main focus now must be on protecting Ireland’s interests and reaching agreement on the terms of the withdrawal arrangement. We must also reach agreement on the backstop to ensure there is no hard border on this island, which would run contrary to the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. Cool, calm heads are required. I hope that the Salzburg summit focused minds and provided time for reflection. Both sides must now come to the table to ensure that the most vulnerable in our societies are protected. While nobody wants to see a no deal, crash out Brexit, it is possible, and we may sleepwalk into it if we do not act with a renewed focus in order to get that deal done.

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