Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All of the Dublin Bay North Deputies are on their feet today. On 1 January 2021, the UK will be outside the EU's Single Market and the customs union. This has huge implications for our SMEs, our agricultural sector and our economy generally. Already, our businesses are suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit is a double-whammy for them. We must do everything we can to achieve the best possible outcome for Ireland in the short time left to us, given these adverse circumstances.

Negotiations between the EU and the UK are continuing but we need real engagement from both sides. As we know, however, the time is short. We need a free trade agreement and a sane and sensible outcome for all of us. A no deal Brexit would be bad for the UK, Ireland, a number of EU states and the EU generally. The withdrawal agreement and the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol protects the peace process and avoids a hard Border on the island of Ireland. It must be implemented.

I also want to put on the record my concern in respect of the UK Internal Market Bill. This gives British ministers the power to override the withdrawal agreement and the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol. This Bill breaches international law and must not be implemented. For many democrats, the introduction of this Bill by the UK Government and the blatant attempt to break international law that it represents is truly shocking. The former British Prime Minister, Theresa May, when speaking in the House of Commons, hit the nail on the head when she stated that the Internal Market Bill is reckless and damaging to Britain's standing in the eyes of the world. Who would have thought that such a thing could happen? We live in strange times. Trust between the EU and the UK has been damaged and this must be repaired as a matter of urgency.

In this context, I welcome the support given in recent days for the Irish position by the Democratic Party Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. Speaker Pelosi addressed this House during the last Dáil and all of us are in indebted to her for her unfailing help on this issue. When she spoke in the Dáil, Democratic Party Congressman Richard Neal was also present and he too has been a constant champion of the Irish position. We can hope that the recent comments by US presidential Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden on this issue also bode well for the future.

I would also like to draw attention to the remarks of the President of the European Commission, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, when she said in her state of the union address earlier this month that the EU would never backtrack on the withdrawal agreement and that it was the best and only way for ensuring peace on the island of Ireland. In passing, I also agree with everything the President of the European Commission said about the late John Hume. He was one of the great Europeans, who understood that difference is the essence of humanity. I wanted to put that on the record and convey my sympathy to the Hume family on the passing of John Hume, who did so much to bring about peace and stability on the island of Ireland.

Specifically, I want to raise the concerns articulated by the Irish Road Haulage Association following the statement by Michael Gove in the House of Commons yesterday. Michael Gove warned about possible queues of 7,000 trucks in the port of Dover and two-day delays to cross over to the European mainland. It raises the question as to how stands the agreement reached with the UK to the effect that Irish lorries will be fast-tracked through customs, if such lorries are held up in these queues. What can the Government do to assist the transport of goods by Irish companies using the UK land bridge? When the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, is summing up he might address that issue because it seems to be a real issue for the Irish road hauliers, as articulated in the press today.

Time is short, as the Minister said earlier. I appreciated the update he gave to the House on the negotiations and on the issues of the level playing field, governance and fisheries, which are all extremely important and much work needs to be done in those areas. I would also like to reiterate what the Minister said about the need to develop relationships between the EU and the UK going forward, when all this has been sorted out one way or the other. More specifically, we need to develop relationships between Ireland and the UK in the future. I know this came up in the discussions on the programme for Government and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, had some ideas on that but work will need to be done there as well to see how we can foster those relationships when the UK finally leaves the European Union. We are in the transition period and a lot of discussions are taking place but we need to put work into that area and examine what institutions or organisations can be established to facilitate that.

We need a future relationship and a free trade agreement, even a bare bones agreement. Time is running out and I wish the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade well in the coming weeks in their endeavours to bring this about.

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