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

I am sharing time with Deputy O'Connor.

I thank the Minister very much for this session. There is a lot to discuss. I am deliberately not going to repeat points other Deputies have made because the Minister has addressed them or can address them later. I want to build on some of the statements made by Deputy Verona Murphy, with whom I spent a lot of time in the Brexit trenches over the past few years. The issue I would like to raise first with the Minister concerns replacement and the opportunities provided to the Irish economy by Brexit.

I mention that with particular reference to the work of the Minister's Department in securing additional trade within the European Single Market. Deputy Verona Murphy mentioned the 600% increase in traffic in Rosslare and the importance of direct shipping, as have others, but, crucially, we are still underperforming when it comes to maximising the opportunities that are presented by the Single Market. Much of the lead on that needs to be taken by the Minister's Department.

I greatly appreciated the replies to parliamentary questions I received from the Minister, the Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, on the efforts in relation to trade missions, the offices of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland across the EU and the additional staffing within member state embassies from the Department of Foreign Affairs. I welcome the work going on in relation to the consulate in Frankfurt and the Enterprise Ireland office in Lyon but we are still missing a trick when it comes to other major cities outside the capitals, such as Milan, Barcelona, Gdansk and Gothenburg. How can Irish exports replace British exports that were once much sought-after, such as products from the Scottish seafood industry? There is huge potential there and it requires the Department of Foreign Affairs to lead on this. There is the model of the Ireland House that the Department is pursuing outside the EU but it should also ensure that in ten years' time every Irish mission in the EU has in the embassy not just diplomats but officers from Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Bord Bia, Tourism Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and many other State agencies.

I raise an issue that has come up today but I do not believe anyone in this question and answer session has raised it. It is a specific Brexit issue whereby the British Government, sadly, does not seem to be affording full diplomatic credentials to the EU representative to the UK post Brexit. Some 143 countries give the EU representative full diplomatic status. I ask the Minister to raise this with his equivalent, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, and with the British ambassador to Ireland. Why are they doing this? Will they rectify it? In my opinion, it is a petty move which serves nobody's interest. The fact is that 143 countries allow this. The only other regime that has tried to use that before now was that of former President Donald Trump. It is worrying. If we believe in the close relationship between the EU and the UK that is allowed for in this deal, and if we believe that Ireland should be the UK's best friend in the EU, we need to see that reciprocated by the British Government. We need to see full diplomatic credentials presented to the European mission in London and in any other regional offices that remain open or will open in the future. Will the Minister raise this in a serious manner and ensure it is clear that, in order to maintain those relationships, diplomatic norms must also be maintained?

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