Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I start on the issue mentioned by Deputy Martin Kenny, namely, the importance of us putting this debate into context, despite the fact that the Bill we are dealing with is actually quite technical, crossing nine Government Ministers. It is important that we recognise that none of us wants to see Brexit happening and, in particular, that none of us wants to see a hard Brexit or a crash-out Brexit. It is no harm to remind ourselves of what the Good Friday Agreement achieved and all of the work done over the years to get to that point, both in Northern Ireland with Britain and in the Republic. I was a member of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in the 1990s when I was a Member of the Seanad when I could see how people were gradually coming to reach some agreement with each other. It is almost 20 years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. We need to ensure we do everything we can to protect citizens and people living in Northern Ireland from what is the threat of a hard Brexit. In that context, it is welcome that the British Labour Party has shifted its position. It is welcome that it is now looking at the possibility of a people's vote. We do not know what will happen and obviously have to be ready for whatever comes down the tracks, but we certainly all need to use our influence insofar as we can to protect and prevent what would be an appalling scenario for everybody.

The Bill covers a large number of Departments. As the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, is present, I will briefly refer to the issue of student grants in Part 5 of the Bill. We had an opportunity at the Joint Committee on Education and Skills to engage with the Minister on the protection for students of SUSI grants and reciprocal grants for students coming here from Britain. It is welcome that this section is included in the Bill. We also raised the question of the Erasmus programme. I know that it will not be included in the legislation, but there are also concerns about that programme and the facility for students to travel within the European Union in the context of Britain not being part of the European Union. Students should still be able to have that opportunity to participate in exchange programmes and travel.

I particularly want to address the issue of jobs, the protection of businesses and Part 3 of the Bill. While it is welcome that Enterprise Ireland will have greater flexibility in supporting companies and research and development and that there is specific approval for it to support businesses financially and it has flexibility in that regard, as my party leader, Deputy Howlin, said today, I would like to see it being a little more specific in terms of the amount of money that will be available to shore up vulnerable Irish jobs. I also support his call for a new Brexit jobs fund in order that we can directly support companies that are really vulnerable in the context of the deadline for Brexit being so close. I am not sure if the messages have got across to all businesses, small and large, on what is available and what they should be doing. I know that there are advertisements on radio, etc. but there may not be the level of understanding or information required. Therefore, I again ask the Government to ensure this information is available.

As a representative from the mid-west, I am particularly concerned about agriculture and the agrifood sector which is very strong in my part of the country. I refer to the question of connectivity for businesses. There many multinationals in the mid-west, for example, as well as indigenous industries that very much rely on the international airport connection provided through Shannon Airport. We are concerned that Heathrow Airport is the main hub that serves Shannon Airport and provides for onward connectivity to other parts of the world. We need to ensure there will be access to that onward connectivity for businesses in the mid-west, about which there is a real concern. On Shannon Airport, the figures published last summer showed that 96% of the growth in Irish air traffic in the past five years had been at Dublin Airport. We see the extra runway causing some controversy in north Dublin, but we could certainly do with the airport noise with which they have a problem in north Dublin because we do not have enough in my part of the country, certainly in terms of-----

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