John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with two colleagues. I thank the Minister for outlining the approach to the Brexit omnibus Bill. I will take a moment to offer my condolences on the death yesterday morning of the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, PLO, Dr. Saeb Erekat, to his friends, family and colleagues. His loss to the cause of the Palestinian people is immeasurable.

As we come close to the culminating point of the drawn-out drama that is Brexit, we are still forced to contend with the ongoing obtuseness of the Tory party Brexiteers. Unfortunately for us, as the bellicose bluster of one blowhard blows out across the Atlantic, we in Ireland are left with a befuddled buffoon in Westminster. It is fitting and right that we take the necessary steps as a collective to prepare the island of Ireland in the most appropriate manner we can to withstand the challenges forced upon us by the predations of English nationalism.

As the Sinn Féin spokesperson for foreign affairs and defence, I have many dealings with the diplomatic community resident in Ireland and, as can be imagined, Brexit is a topic that is frequently tabled during our discussions. What is striking is the impact and impression left upon the international community by the commitment, coherence and unity of purpose that infuses the approach in Ireland towards Brexit, not just among the political parties in this House but amongst the whole of the Irish nation. Our approach has been ably abetted by the EU, whose negotiators have put the defence of the Irish peace process, the Good Friday Agreement and the Irish protocol at the heart of Europe's stance on Brexit. It is critical that this approach continues.

We must hope the election of President-elect Joe Biden in the US will bolster the hand of common sense. President-elect Biden has been firm and consistent in the manner in which he has articulated his support for the Irish peace process. He clearly carries a sense of responsibility towards the role of acting as a guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, having clearly stated during the recent US election campaign that there would be no trade agreement with a Johnson Government that would attempt to ride roughshod over the Good Friday Agreement.

We can only hope that his election will have a decided impact on the Tory approach to the negotiations.

The polite but pointed message from the former Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, that President-elect Biden should butt out of the sovereign affairs of Britain clearly evidences that the arrogance and obtuseness that we have come to associate with the British approach to Brexit remain ingrained.

The decision of the House of Lords to roundly reject the elements of the internal market Bill that would have Britain trash international law is a welcome development. The Internal Market Bill fundamentally undermines devolution in the North and the Good Friday Agreement. We, in the Dáil, along with our allies in Europe and the United States, must continue to work together to ensure that all of the offending parts of the internal market Bill are withdrawn. All elements that undermine the Irish protocol in the withdrawal agreement must be removed and the Bill must be binned.

The insistence of the British to leave the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, ECJ, offers an insight into the malign intent of the Johnson regime. Undoubtedly, the ECJ has consistently acted to protect the interests of ordinary British citizens down through the years. The British Government fights approximately six cases a year in the ECJ, where the majority of its convictions have been for breaches of environmental law. The generally held belief is that the British opposition to the ECJ is linked to its opposition to attempts to reach an agreement on a level playing field. The primary objective of the Tory Government is that having severed all ties with any judicial body with the authority to arbitrate, it will commence the erosion of environmental standards, workers' rights and living standards to secure a competitive economic advantage over the EU as a manufacturing economy. To this end, under the provisions of the internal market Bill, an unelected quango will have the authority to override the institutions of the Northern Assembly and force these impositions on the people of the North without recourse. This also poses the threat that inferior food products or ingredients will find their way into the Irish food supply chain and that cannot be allowed to happen.

The Brexit omnibus Bill moves to prepare the relevant sections of the Irish economy for Brexit within the parameters set down in the withdrawal agreement drawn up between the EU and Britain. It is a vital response to the changes that will come into force on 1 January. It is a Bill that Sinn Féin will support While there are areas of the Bill that could be strengthened, I hope that these changes can be worked into it in co-operation with the Minister. I welcomed his comments that he is open to positive and progressive changes.

I welcome the progress that has been made for our citizens in the North to be able to access the European health insurance card, the Erasmus+ student programme and Horizon 2020. Alongside these welcome developments, we must endeavour to establish mechanisms that will ensure that the people of the North of Ireland achieve democratic representation within the institutions of the EU. Reports indicate that there are approximately 30,000 cross-Border workers and it is essential that we work together to ensure that the British Government introduces and implements a frontier workers' scheme that offers full protections to those who are living on one side of the Border but work on the other.

In this strangest and most dramatic of years around the globe, we in Ireland have been forced to confront two major challenges, namely, those presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. The experience of the pandemic is ongoing and well documented. The impact of Brexit is yet to be fully felt but we are very aware of the challenges that it will introduce to all of our lives. What both challenges have in common is that they have proven themselves to be a challenge to the island of Ireland. Their impact questions the validity and common sense of the maintenance of two jurisdictions on a small island. Arguably, our response to Covid-19 has been impeded by a dual, and often conflicting, response between the North and the South. Just an hour up the road, we witnessed the leadership of the Stormont Assembly issuing an appeal to the EU for fear of food shortages in the event of Brexit.

If there is one clear message that arises from the experience of Brexit and Covid-19, it is that we must begin the process of planning for constitutional change on this island. We must ensure that the process of planning is all inclusive, that it provides for input for all shades of opinion and outlook on this island and that it is an all-Ireland approach. Nothing could be clearer than that the future of the shared experience of the people of this island lies in the reunification of Ireland because together we are stronger.

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