Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The first thing which struck me when we saw this Bill last weekend was the very practical day-to-day nature of many of the measures which are impacted in the event of a no-deal Brexit. These are simple things that we take for granted such as bus and rail journeys, or simply driving over and back across the Border. On many levels, this Bill impacts on every aspect of daily life in the event of a no-deal Brexit. It is unfortunate that it has been left so late as there are so many things that will inconvenience people in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Yesterday the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland referred to the necessity of a special green card to travel over and back across the Border. People will not know about it. We can only hope, and the signs are stronger this week, that there will be some sort of a deal or extension so that this Bill will stay on the shelf, it is to be hoped never to be used.

That said, Brexit is proceeding. The relationship this State has with the UK in terms of the EU relationship is changing forever. That will have huge implications. Amid all the ongoing negotiations, we must remember that this is only the first stage. We will have to engage in the nature of the relationship after the UK leaves the EU. That new relationship will have so many consequences for the country, including my own county of Mayo which has especially strong links to England, Scotland and Wales so for long, and for the island.

If Brexit is a failure of politics, and in part it is, the strength of the relationships on our island over the past 20 years illustrate the success of the Good Friday Agreement which owes much to politics and politicians getting on with work, knocking heads together and sticking with the thing until it was seen through. The positive changes of the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process in our island relationships have been transformative. I do not think that anyone would have stood here 30 years ago at the height of the so-called Troubles and some of the worst days of political intransigence and imagined how we would live our lives now on such a collective basis.

The context of the new relationship with the UK is essential. We must stay focused on the east-west relationship and its importance. Farmers and beef farmers in particular are in the vanguard of this. They will face some of the biggest challenges. They face great challenges anyway, as the world economy changes and world tastes change, but while our biggest market moves into a different economic sphere with different economic and trading rules, it puts huge pressure on them. Attention and focus must be given to the future of the beef and suckler sectors, not only in the context of Brexit but also of these changes. The Government must decide whether it wants these sectors, and if so, it must support them rather than offering them nice words and pats on the head. A proper programme to maintain a suckler sector is essential. It is part of rural regeneration and sustaining rural communities.

Similarly in tourism, to which Deputy Casey will refer later, and I defer to his expertise, we still have a great dependence on the UK market, with cultural links which go back decades and generations. We must reimagine those links and continue to improve our offering and continue the investment in greenways and walkways and projects such as the fantastic Center Parcs in Ballymahon which will bring people for an experience rather than a habit. This will bring people to experience our island and its welcome, while they spend money, but we must give them reasons to travel and we must continue to make capital investment in our tourism sector.

All our industries are dependent on the landbridge across England especially. It is essential to get access to the European markets.

In the context of the negotiations on the new relationship, particular focus will have to be put on keeping the landbridge as effective and as efficient as possible. Every block we put in and every check we put on adds to our cost base and our industries, including our multinationals, do not need that.

The Minister will be very familiar with the flight connections between Ireland West Airport Knock and England and the importance of those connections, economically and socially. They have to continue and the signals are that they will. They cannot be allowed to become a pawn in any negotiation about the future relationship and what the future relationship will be. There are so many things we take for granted that are now about to be up-ended as a consequence of a no-deal Brexit, and indeed with any type of Brexit. People hope a no-deal Brexit or an extension will move the problem on but it will not - it will just move the deadline. The problem still has to be tackled.

Many aspects of this legislation may come back into focus as we negotiate and implement the future relationship. We have to ensure that in negotiating and implementing that new relationship, the least possible disruption is caused to economic life, agricultural life, tourism and people's movements across the Border to connect to families and other people. I had a conversation at the weekend with somebody whose brother lives five minutes away from her. She goes back to visit her nieces, nephews and cousins and this is the normal pattern of family life in rural Ireland but the Border is between the woman and her brother. They are young and they have never had to worry about it but a Border would transform their family life and their daily activity. For that reason alone, people should understand why the backstop is so important. It is not a political thing. It is about maintaining our island and the relationships on our island. It is about maintaining freedom of movement and our day-to-day life, to which everybody across the world is entitled.

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