Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I must agree with much of what has been said today. If we base our thoughts on statements made in the past while, we seem to be looking at the crux of Brexit. We hope Mr. Barnier can deliver a deal. The National Audit Office in Britain has basically stated that there has been insufficient preparation, with insufficient systems put in place, and with nothing on the cards but chaos.

We will have our own issues here. Earlier today we saw representatives from a number of port companies appear before the transport committee and it seems one of the traffic management systems for Dublin Port may be using the port tunnel as a car park in which nobody will park. Drivers will continue to drive around in circles. We will have many such issues. Like many others, I did not realise that to get a burger or fish and chips, we need many imports from Britain. We need a long-term solution involving the farmers of Ireland and the Irish Farmers Association. The Government must take a hand in this and we must deal with these problems. Last week we spoke about a solution in this House relating to a number of drivers who had done certificate of professional competence training in the North. There will be no small number of issues.

We are being told this is coming down to governance, a level playing field and fishing rights. It looks like this is a game being played by a British Government seeking fishing rights on which it does not seem to have the capacity to follow through. We cannot be the fall guy in this. We welcome the solidarity that has been shown, particularly on the Irish Border. That must be maintained. We must ensure this does not have an impact on a significant number of livelihoods in Ireland.

Whether we are talking about the withdrawal agreement or the possibility of a free trade agreement, this is about mitigating the worst aspects of Brexit. Some of that will be within our control but not all of it will be. There is a belief that this British Government is almost literally playing games because approximately 45% of exports from Britain go to the European Union. It requires a deal as much as anybody else. I could not say I could ever trust the British Government, and one could not trust this British Government in particular. We must ensure we can maintain the level of European solidarity and that there is no blinking whatever.

This week German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have made positive statements about a deal but indicated it will not come at any expense. We have heard what Mr. Barnier said, along with the comments of French President Macron. If we are talking about Brexit adjustment funds, we must go to the European Council with the argument that nowhere will see a bigger impact than Ireland. It is a necessity that this be followed through.

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