Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be supporting the Bill. Hopefully we will never have to use it; that is the first thing we should all say.

There has been a lot of talk about our access to Europe. Regarding ports such as Rosslare, we have to up the ante. A lot of our stock is exported. We have a 9-1-9 system. The Government should be considering putting a lairage system in place in the likes of Rosslare to help with the live export of calves. There are many critical points. Milk goes across the Border both ways.

There is a reference in the Bill to employment. There is a lot of talk in the South about subcontractors coming from the North. How will we know, after Brexit, how legitimate or safe it is to give contracts to northern businesses? We will not be able to look into them in the same way as we could.

Deputies Michael Collins, Danny Healy-Rae and Mattie McGrath referred to cross-Border issues and a subsequent speaker said Britain is pulling away. We know it is but I am thankful there is a triangle in the north of the country to ensure that people from Donegal, Sligo and elsewhere can access treatment for cancer. Unfortunately, there are people in this country who have been waiting for two, three and four years to have a cataract removed. It is a simple, basic procedure that should be done for them. There are people in a lot of pain. I do not know what genius in the HSE wrote an answer to the effect that patients would no longer be able to go to Northern Ireland but that they would be able to go to mainland Europe. The idea would be to load them up and send them to France or Holland. What an idea. We need to make sure that we put some arrangement in place. We should just forget about the EU treatment purchase scheme and fund the facility ourselves for the next year or 18 months until we are on top of the results. We have to make sure that we look after people.

On the agricultural side, we cannot wait until the final hour. I understand that nobody knows what is going to happen but the EU needs to be sending signals to offer comfort and solace to the Irish farming community such that if a hard Brexit occurs in respect of tariffs and so on, intervention will open at a proper price, not a reduced price, and such that the dairy and beef sectors will be looked after. With regard to sheep, we will not be too bad for the simple reason that we import a lot of sheep from Northern Ireland and England, but we need to put these measures in place to ensure we are not frightening both businesses and the farming sector.

We must ensure there is the necessary infrastructure at, for example, Rosslare. I heard mention of boats travelling at 24 kn. I do not know enough about boats to know what speed they need to go, but we must ramp up sea ferry crossings for lorries. We are an export-led country. Instead of closing the door, whatever efforts need to be made in the next few weeks should be. Such efforts are required in the agricultural industry, including the beef sector. We must also be mindful of the communities along the Border. Reality will show that rural Ireland will take the biggest hit in a hard Brexit. We must be ready to open the purse strings and do whatever we have to if we are to keep rural areas viable and put solutions in place for them.

When Ireland was not able to cater for people's health needs, the cross-border initiative was a good scheme. It helped many people who were in pain. We must ensure that it continues.

We must consider what Brexit will affect. Generally speaking, most farmers do not buy new tractors. Many of their tractors are imported from various auctions in England, for example, the Cambridge Machinery Sales auction. In that regard, we must ensure that there is not a significant ramping up in duty fees or whatever might be the case. If there is, the rural farming community will be affected. The rest of the EU will not be as badly affected as those of us on this island. I hope that Mr. Barnier and Prime Minister Johnson can resolve this issue in their negotiations. If there is a hard Brexit, we will see who our friends are on the first day of January. We need people to put in place the necessary steps to ensure that intervention is open. We should not be left for a month or two or three. That would be catastrophic for the agricultural sector, particularly in light of what people are going through now.

On employment, we cannot forecast whether a company will enter into liquidation or whatever, but some price cutting is happening at the moment. We need to consider what a realistic price is. I do not mean that anything should be overpriced, only realistically priced. Much of the price cutting is originating from outside the Twenty-six Counties, be it Spain or wherever. Anyone can tender for business anywhere in the EU. We need to examine this issue very sharply because we must keep employment in our own country.

I support the Bill and wish the Government luck in the negotiations. We do not want to have to talk about this issue. Let us look at the glass as being half full rather than half empty, but if we have to look at it as being half empty, then we need to put the steps in place to ensure that the agricultural sector and rural Ireland are not brought to their knees overnight, particularly after what they have gone through this year.

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