Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Bill to the House and welcome the opportunity to speak on it. The legislation that is before us is made up of many Parts and straddles many Departments. It is a complex omnibus Bill that tries to deal, insofar as possible, with many of the issues that are facing us with Brexit six or seven weeks away. I wish everybody who is involved in the negotiations well - those on the Irish side, including the Minister who is here to take the debate, and also those on the European and British sides. I wish them well in making sure that Britain leaves the European Union with a deal. That is outside our control and we are trying to make sure that every eventuality is accounted for under this complex legislation.

I would like to discuss a number of issues. Some sections of the Bill deal with health matters and the provision of healthcare is vital. Over the past number of years, the initiative under the EU cross-border directive has been used by many people on the southern side of Ireland to travel to Belfast and places across Europe for healthcare. Many complex medical procedures and surgeries have been sought in the UK and across Europe. Over the past number of years, I have facilitated a considerable number of people from my constituency and others to travel to Belfast for cataract and other procedures. That has helped in an enormous way with the backlog in our region. I know that bilateral arrangements are being negotiated and importance is being placed on that.

It is vital that the services I have mentioned are not only available as an excuse for the Irish health service. One would hope that further investment in Irish health services would mean that travel across the Border to Belfast or other places will not be required and that we will be able to provide these services in a timely fashion. In the meantime, it is vital that the opportunity to avail of those services is made available and that we make sure that the bilateral agreement is teased out to the nth degree and that it properly reflects exactly what is the case at the moment. I know that a lot of issues are referred to under the auspices of healthcare in this Bill but that is one of the initiatives that I would like to make sure is maintained and continued.

Many speakers have spoken about the impact on many industries. I come from a rural part of a rural constituency and one of the major industries there is agriculture. A number of other indigenous industries have built up and are exporting a considerable volume of products to the UK, having built up a market over many years. I will deal with the agricultural industry, particularly the agrifood industry which has developed enormously. Farmers take huge pride in the product that they are producing at the moment. Those products have been produced to the highest possible international, EU and Irish standards. Many of those farmers are fearful and wish to make sure that there is a route to market for their products. In all discussions, we must make sure that the indigenous agricultural industry is maintained and that the value added that has built up in many instances in that industry is maintained. It is important that industry is referred to in any address. Perhaps the Minister, when he is wrapping up this debate, will reiterate those points about the food industry and the many agencies that are working to make sure that we have an expert and excellent product going to market.

Many people have looked on fearfully over the past number of months at what has been coming from the UK and what was passed by the English Legislature relating to the Ireland and Northern Ireland protocol. We must ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is protected in all its aspects. It is 22 years since the agreement was signed on 10 April 1998, which was a monumental day. An enormous investment was made to bring all parties to the talks over a long period of time in order to silence the gun, and make sure that everybody was on board and could see the dividend for them and their communities in peace and reconciliation in the North of Ireland.

What has happened in the world over the past three, four or five years has been the polarisation of politics. We have seen it manifested in the US over the past few weeks and years. There is no room for the polarisation of politics because it does not lead to good outcomes in the end.

Many people have challenged different aspects of the European Union and its regulations over many years. Some of those regulations have been hard to deal with from an Irish perspective and have changed the way of life of communities here. Those types of regulations must be fought back against, negotiated and considered from the point of view of the EU. However, if taken in an overall context, the European Union has been extremely good for Ireland and Europe.

We stand here only six or seven weeks from the UK leaving the European Union. It is going to have an impact and disturbance. All practising politicians and those who are involved in political debate, whether in the media or any other format in which political discussion is going on, need to show less of the polarisation of politics. We need to have the centre ground and moderate politics that reflect what has been achieved through the European Union. Nearly all of the politicians here have been out to Brussels at various stages in delegations or meeting groups, or whatever.

Some people say that a bureaucratic nightmare has been built up there. It has certainly had, however, significant peaceful dividends and input into the lives of Europeans who had been at war for the previous 100 years. One man said to me as we were leaving Brussels one day that no matter what one would say about its bureaucracy, it certainly beats killing one another. The European Union has had an enormous impact on the peace negotiations in the North of Ireland and on the regularisation of relationships there and it is important that we stand firm behind the Good Friday Agreement.

Following the results of the presidential election in the United States, the President-elect Joe Biden said that he believes fully in the Good Friday Agreement and that it is sacrosanct in international law. We should all take heed to ensure that in all our political discourse and discussions, not just in heated discussion, that the polarisation of people is not the way to have better outcomes for the ordinary man and woman on the street. It may provide great discourse on Twitter and the social media and in any other debate one can have but at the end of the day, politicians are elected to serve people, not just in this House but right across the globe, and they are there for the betterment of the people who send them there. It is important to ensure that at the core of our political discussion, we are not polarising people and are bringing everybody with us. We have seen the rí rá in relation to one or the other, not just in recent history but down through history and polarisation does not work and cannot work into the future.

There are two aspects of this Bill I wish to refer to in the few minutes that are left to me. On the student support and the change in how the SUSI grant was framed in legislation in 2011, it is important to ensure there is a channel available. Many people have gone to the UK and have benefited from third level education in UK universities in a whole raft of careers, particularly on the medical side, including physiotherapy, pharmacy, and doctors. Many have gone to the UK, not just to England but to Scotland and other places. It will be important to have a bilateral agreement to ensure that students from Ireland can continue to use that process and have access to education, together with the professionalism that people bring back from it.

I note that the social welfare and security element within the Bill deals with social security payments that have been made in Britain and in Ireland. People have emigrated to the UK and have worked over many decades for short and for long periods and when it comes to their pension, it is vitally important that the bilateral understanding that is there between Ireland and the UK in respect of social security is firmly rooted in positive legislation that cannot be challenged. Over the years, we have seen instances of people who, within a year or two of pension age, that is, at 63, 64, or 65 years of age, start looking at their contributions and at shortfalls in that regard only to find, perhaps because of legislation, they are unable to do anything about it. It is important that there is a proper bilateral arrangement on the social security and welfare side.

I cannot emphasise enough the need to have access to UK universities for a whole raft of qualifications, be they primary or masters degrees, In addition, people have received training there. Historically, this has been a positive way in which people have gone to practise medicine in UK hospitals, having qualified in Ireland in different medical professions, and then have come home to practise in Ireland and have given the benefit of that to our State and Republic. It is important that this practice is underlined and kept.

The most important thing that we do is that we wish everybody well in the negotiations and that we do not have serious damage to our small island as a result of Brexit because we have a small open economy, have fantastic people producing great product right across this spectrum and we need to have access to markets for those products. I commend the Bill to the House in the strongest possible terms.

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