Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak briefly on this important issue. We were not sure that we would ever arrive at the point when we would actually have a trade agreement between the European Union and the UK to debate. It became a very close-run thing.

Although the details of this complex agreement will be unravelled over a period of time, a few points are clear from the outset. As I have done as our spokesperson on this issue for the past number of years, the Labour Party strongly welcomes that we have a deal and will support it today, but we cannot escape the fact that it is what others have described as a very thin deal, one that is much weaker and more insubstantial than any we might have hoped for at the outset when there was at least a hope that the UK might stay within the Single Market or the customs union. Unfortunately, that opportunity was lost over time and the hardness of Brexit was firmed up month after month.

This is a unique deal in all the trade deals the EU has transacted, in that it is one that is characterised by divergence between the contracting parties rather than convergence. In every other trade deal, the contracting parties have sought to come together, remove barriers and free up trade. This agreement is a unique set of proposals that puts additional barriers in place to make it more difficult to have trade. We will have to parse and analyse many parts of it as their actual effect is focused upon. As such, this is far from being the end. There will be ongoing and deep negotiations for a protracted period - forever in fact, because all of our trade agreements and trade interactions with the UK will be subject to ongoing evolution and negotiation.

Like other Deputies, I wish to thank those who argued for our interests. We have unique interests in this matter and a greater interest than anyone else in the EU. I pay tribute to Mr. Michel Barnier and his team, our Government and the civil servants who negotiated with great dexterity and patience over a protracted period on a dossier that was never of their making. I should also make mention of European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who has done sterling work in understanding our unique issues and taking them as his own as a representative of the European Commission.

Obviously, we nailed down the Northern Ireland protocol in advance of this trade deal and issues like the common travel area and so on are protected, but there are difficulties with fisheries. Our view from the start, which was also the Irish Government's view as expressed years ago by the Minister, was that we should settle the fisheries issue first and get it off the agenda so that it would not be the last item, given that it would be a difficult one for us to address. Unfortunately, that was not achieved and it became one of the two or three last issues, if not the actual last issue. There are serious difficulties for the fishing communities, some of which I represent in the constituency of Wexford, that need to be addressed. The loss of quota that will result from the agreement will have to be addressed by the Government. I would like to hear specifically what proposals it has to deal with the matter.

In future discussions, I will deal in some detail with the specifics of trade in goods, how tariff free and quota free trade is subject to the rules of origin standards and how they are to be implemented, and how limited the trade in services is in comparison with any other agreement that the EU has contracted with third parties, but because I want to be forward looking, I wish to focus on something else in the few minutes available to me today, namely, the outworking of the agreement as it is in place right now. By this I mean how it is impacting on our communities, businesses and people's lives.

I will take one instance of that in the form of an issue that my office dealt with yesterday. A truck arrived from Wales on the Irish Ferries Pembroke-Rosslare ferry line on the MS Isle of Inishmoreon Monday evening. It was carrying medical supplies destined for Swords. Its driver was held up from 7 p.m. on Monday to 11 a.m. yesterday morning. The issue was a discrepancy of approximately €400 on a VAT invoice for a number of wheelchair parts that were going to a health centre in Dublin. The driver offered to cover the cost himself, but that was not accepted. Having overnighted there, he was eventually allowed to proceed.

The driver has allowed me to set out his views on this matter. I will put what he said on the record of the House:

As you are aware, I did 206 crossings [from Rosslare to Wales] last year. We as a company did well over 300.

We helped in the fight against covid during the difficult times, sometimes 5 trucks a week delivered essential medical supplies, i.e., hospital beds, mattresses, oxygen concentrators, wheelchairs, power chairs.

I pride myself on getting the goods delivered on time every time and I never once failed, regardless of the storms, boats etc. I found a way over.

But to be stopped delivering my goods this morning due to a technicality that could have been rectified was unbelievable.

I understand that everyone has a job to do at this uncertainty of covid and the new brexit regulations. I really see that,but to be held up for over 16 hours at the customs point at Rosslare even though I explained the situation was crazy.

At 9 pm, I was told if I had an I2 document I would be free to go. We sorted that problem within 2 hrs. Then they said there was an issue with one of the commercial invoices (which wasn’t mentioned previously).

I'm passionate about what I do and what I deliver as I know it makes a difference to many people.

We need flexibility in such matters. The Minister is listening and taking note. I accept that we did not create these problems and that we must protect our Single Market, but we must have some degree of flexibility. This is happening at a time when the number of trucks coming to Ireland from Britain is slightly less than half the normal supply. That supply will ratchet up and these issues will be compounded. The Minister will say that all exporters from the UK must be up to speed, but we need to help by alerting people to what is needed. In the interim, we need flexibilities for at least a short time so that the frustrations that I just instanced from one driver are not replicated for hundreds of drivers over the coming weeks. As we work out a new paradigm of a relationship with the UK, one that we did not want and do not welcome, we must do so in as flexible a way as we can so as not to disadvantage ourselves. I hope that, in responding to this debate or during the questions and answers session that will be available to us tomorrow, the Minister might show us the type of interaction he is having with all State agencies, in this instance Revenue, to ensure that people who are doing their best and need a technical fix can have one provided for them and that we are not just saying "There is Brexit for you, there are the consequences and live with them", which would not be in our interests.

While the Labour Party will support the agreement as the best that could be done and commends those who were involved in defending our interests, there is a great deal more work to do.

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