Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The BIC meeting last month was, unfortunately, a reminder of just how bad things are in the operations of the agreed structures of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Yet again there was no democratic voice for Northern Ireland at the meeting because of the continued suspension of the Assembly and Executive. We were then told that Sinn Féin's concerns about the operations of a heating scheme mean that the people of Northern Ireland have no voice at these or any other discussions about the future of relations on these islands.

When a scandal happens, it should never bring down the edifice of Government or Parliament. It is incomprehensible when looked at it in that context. A scandal should be dealt with, rather than bringing down the whole operation.

More importantly, there is no evidence from the communiqué or any of the press conferences that there were substantive discussions about the need for much more active and constructive relations. I take on board what the Taoiseach has just said, but Fianna Fáil proposed over two years ago after the result of the Brexit referendum that there is a need to replace the current constant east-west contact which happens between the UK and Irish Governments in European Union forums with something which stops the inevitable drift which will happen if we rely on current approaches. The common travel area and mutual recognition of rights and other areas cannot function without constant interactions between the two Governments.

I do not think the British-Irish Council, as it currently works, is the answer. Something far more dynamic and focused on urgent issues is required. At the time, I proposed something like the Nordic Council, which is very interesting. It has a permanent secretariat. It includes countries in the region that are members of the European Union and countries that are not. There is no doubt that there will be an issue with British-Irish relations after Brexit. We have developed familiar and frequent contacts in the past 40 years in going to various meetings in Brussels. In an informal way, that has been of significant assistance to relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom which I do not think we should understate. Given the urgency of this issue, we need to work substantively on the idea of what will replace the frequency, level and quality of contacts we have enjoyed with British Ministers and officials in the context of the European Union. With what will we replace it? Is the existing British-Irish Council the correct forum? Is it substantive enough to meet the requirements I have mentioned? I got an indication from the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach that they were coming around to this view. I am interested in hearing the Taoiseach's perspective.

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