Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, and Deputy Collins would like to have seven or eight minutes.

It is regrettable we are all in this House speaking on this legislation. We would all have preferred if the result of the UK referendum some years ago was that it would remain in the Union. That was not to be and we now have to deal with the serious consequences that may arise from the UK leaving the EU in whatever guise, be it a crash-out, a phased or an agreed withdrawal, but either way it will not be good for Ireland, the island of Ireland, the UK or the Union. For all those reasons, it is regrettable we find ourselves at this stage of the withdrawal process, not yet knowing what will happen in Westminster and how the UK will finally withdraw from the European Union.

We often look at the Union, even in this country which is quite pro-European and which has mainly pro-European parties, as an economic entity but it is much more than that. It is also an emotional entity. Many people would accept that the European Union stands for fundamental rights, gives people an opportunity to travel and to work and be educated abroad, and it instills in them a sense of a belonging to more than only their own country. It underpins a broader sense of what we are as a people. For all those reasons, the European Union means an awful lot to me, to the Irish people and to most political parties on the island of Ireland.

When we reflect on where we have got to as a country, we can accept the progression from the EEC, which we joined in 1973, to the European Union and the changes in the Maastricht treaty which allowed for that development with the euro currency, the integration of the institutions and now the move towards more democratic accountability with the expanded role of the European Parliament indicating that the European Union is changing. It is organic. It is responding to the needs and demands of the citizens across Europe in terms of accountability and democracy. We always want more of that and we insist that the European Union responds in a way that it listens to citizens and addresses their views and concerns. That was evident during the downturn and the economic crash of 2008. The Union was accused of not standing by us but with the benefit of hindsight while it foisted levels of debt on us with which no citizen could be happy, the overall principle of trying to keep the eurozone intact and ensuring the institutions of this State and other states that were under major pressure survived and that their economies were underpinned and supported have proved to be the correct decisions. As much as some Members may disagree with that, overall the right decisions were made, albeit they caused a great deal of hardship in the intervening years. There is evidence we have come out the other side. From that perspective, when we reflect on the way our economy has flourished recently, it shows that an open, global trading economy that is not afraid to step forward into the international sphere to sell its wares on the international market and that is confident in an international environment, which is something that has benefitted Ireland dramatically.

For many years, we had a closed economy; we looked inward. In the 1950s and 1960s, in particular, we started to look outward and there was a reduction in tariffs. An economy that is inefficient causes pain and difficulty but our economy recovered over time, efficiencies came into being and multinationals are now in place. For all those reasons, the strategies that were developed over many years by the State in advance of joining the EEC were the right ones in terms of opening up our economy, globalisation, starting to trade on the international markets and being able to access the EEC when we joined it in 1973 along with the UK and Denmark, which was quite an historic event for us. It was the first time as a nation we were able to independently have a voice at a table equal to the big players in the EEC, be it France, Germany, the UK and others. It gave us an opportunity to express ourselves and influence our destiny on the European stage.

It is regrettable for many reasons that the UK has decided on this course of action. First and foremost, we have a shared history that is intertwined and interwoven, much of it very traumatic even up until recently on the island of Ireland. We are also intertwined in many other ways, namely, economically, culturally, emotionally, through family ties and in the context of sharing a part of this island with the UK. We must accept that whatever happens with regard to the UK and the European Union in respect of the withdrawal treaty and our future relationship that what happens on the island of Ireland in that context is of greater significance to us than to any other country. We must ensure that the EU is very much on our side in the negotiations. Equally, being on our side means at times having to accept that the UK is in grave difficulty and that it needs flexibility and imagination to arrive at a deal that will allow the island of Ireland, in particular, to flourish without borders, frontiers, barriers, trade tariffs or inhibitors to the normal movement of people, goods and services, North and South. That must be the key issue in any discussions in the context of the withdrawal agreement and the future trading relationship, and relationships with the UK and the EU.

This Bill is to make provision in the event of there being a hard Brexit. We hope we will never have to use any of its provisions, but some of them, particularly in the areas of business enterprise and innovation, were contained in a previous Bill. They have just been brought into this omnibus Bill to address some of the issues that were of concern even in advance of this publication. Some elements of it would have to be enacted in any event, regardless of some of the issues that may arise in the context of a hard Brexit.

I do not like to make an overtly political point in this context because there is general agreement about Brexit, the fact that it is a lose-lose-lose for all of us and that it will not have a positive impact on any citizen on the island of Ireland but what Deputy Mary Lou McDonald said yesterday in her criticism of Fianna Fáil and the SDLP was scathing for whatever reason, and I cannot understand that. Having looked back on what she said, I have tried to assess the point she was trying to make, bearing in mind that Fianna Fáil is the most pro-European party in the Chamber, the party that led this country into the EEC-----

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