Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cross-Border travel for citizens is protected by the common travel area. It is important that people know that there is an agreement in place, that they can travel over and back every day to their place of work or to see their friends along the Border. We are an absolutely committed member of the European Union, membership of which has served the country extremely well. We will remain a committed member. As a member of the European Union, we must protect the Single Market and the customs union. Therein lies the difficulty in making sure we will not have a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland. I am very familiar with the area and the last thing I want to see is a border between us and Northern Ireland such that we could not continue to do what we do every single day in going over and back across the border. We do not notice it any more as it is seamless. We want that to continue, which is why the backstop is in place and we believe the withdrawal agreement is the best option on the table. We remain committed to it, as do our European partners.

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