James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is rare in politics these days when everything is so negative that there is something positive to say. As a newly elected Deputy, I thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for the work they have done over the last number of months and years on the issue of Brexit. The day Joe Biden was paying his first official visit to Ireland as Vice President was interesting. I had the pleasure of meeting him that day, which was the day the UK had voted to leave the European Union. We have made enormous progress as a country to protect to the best of our ability critically important sectors of our economy. In my constituency of Cork East we were exceptionally concerned about the effects it could have on the cheddar cheese and dairy industry. Cork East is at the heart of agrifood in Ireland.

I was highly impressed when I was first elected as a Deputy by the extraordinary efforts put in by staff at the Department of Foreign Affairs after my engagement with them in trying to get citizens repatriated and by their work on Brexit. It has to be outlined that the Department has done well for the country and I thank the Minister for the continued work he is doing.

We have entered into the British relationship post the UK being a member of the European Union. We have to be incredibly careful to protect all of the positive moves we have secured for Ireland, including looking after Northern Ireland to the best of our ability. There are hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens in the North on whose behalf we fought very hard to ensure freedom of movement across the Border.

From a logistics point of view, the previous speakers outlined the frustration felt by many hauliers. I am hearing a significant amount of discussion about that and around new systems that the Department is continuing to work on. Everybody knew we would face significant challenges in trying to address the new realities as a result of a decision taken not by Ireland but by the people of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. We have to put our best efforts into ensuring our systems are as seamless as possible. The Minister has outlined that those things cannot always be perfected given the circumstances but we have to try.

Something I am strong on is the fact that we are now in receipt of funds from the European Union as a result of the departure of the United Kingdom and it is important that we do not put that public money to waste. We have to ensure we invest it in areas most affected by Brexit and in ways that improve and diversify our economy. We have to ensure our ports are at their maximum capacity and have all the infrastructure they need in addition to what they already have. We must also invest in the technology we have seen in other parts of the world that will ensure our trade is as seamless as possible. I have been in countries that border the European Union. I have been to Croatia and anyone who has been to Dubrovnik would be aware that crossing into Bosnia there are multiple checkpoints. We have avoided the situation where there are armed checkpoints at border crossings. That is a testament to the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs but when it comes to our trade as an island nation, we have to ensure we are doing everything possible. I ask the Minister to use that money to good effect so it does not go to waste or go out in handouts. That would not be welcomed by the public at large throughout the country.

In my county of Cork there are many projects that would have a huge impact on our ability to trade. In east Cork, we are crippled with traffic congestion at Castlemartyr and Killeagh. I would like to see us upgrading our national road network, connecting ports like Rosslare to the Port of Cork so we have the ability to get the goods to the Continent and the European Union as quickly as possible. It is welcome that we have additional crossings now between Ireland and the European Union. We have to ensure we do everything we can to expand upon that.

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