Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to raise this extremely serious issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte and the Minister. When reports came out that Leave.EU had relocated or temporarily registered its location from Bristol to Waterford many people met the news with a sense of wry irony that an organisation that has spent the past number of years campaigning to leave the EU is seeking to remain within the EU in order to retain its favourable Internet rating and its brand.

Let us be under no illusion, however, this is an absolutely toxic brand. This group has wreaked absolute misery on the United Kingdom and around for many years. Beyond Brexit the group has traded an absolutely toxic brand of campaigns and politics, be it on immigration, on the relationship with the media or directed at personal individuals, including Ministers in our own Government. It also trades in senseless and baseless xenophobia the likes of which we in this country should not and do not have any time for.

When we look at this toxic brand of campaigning are we looking to see if the toxic brand of campaigning is being exported here? Is the group looking to locate themselves in Waterford to ascertain a flag of convenience and to maintain the prevalence in Internet searches and so much else? I have already raised a number of concerns with the relevant bodies at Irish and EU level with regard to the group's domain name registration and its accounts and status with the Revenue Commissioners, and crucially around the storage of data. This organisation has access to data of tens of thousands of individuals in the United Kingdom and beyond, and it must be ensured that these data are stored in a way that is compliant with the general data protection regulation, GDPR, even though the UK has left the EU.

When an organisation like this seeks to move around, even just as a flag of convenience or to export its toxic brand of campaigning, it absolutely requires a serious level of scrutiny by Government and by the authorities therein. I ask the Minister and the Department to give that level of scrutiny. This organisation trades in controversy and misery. The group has been levied with numerous fines in the United Kingdom for its campaigning activity, for its storage of data and for funding. The group has associations with quite dubious characters, inside and outside the organisation, which merit serious concern. The group is connected, directly and indirectly, with some of the scary events that unfolded in Washington DC last week and this should not be dismissed out of hand. While the people who run this organisation seek to mock those who question their authority and seek to dismiss any concerns, ultimately resorting to the level of insults one would not find in the schoolyard, we need to keep that level of scrutiny absolutely rigorous. We need to shine a light and put up a probe. I believe that this organisation is a threat to our democracy. It is a politically subversive organisation that, if it was allowed to gain a foothold in our democracy, would have a detrimental effect. We cannot dismiss this lightly. We must provide that scrutiny. I implore the Minister and the Government to make sure that Leave.EU, quite simply, is not welcome in Ireland.

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