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

I thank the Taoiseach for the very detailed report ahead of what I have no doubt will be an extremely busy couple of days at the European Council meeting. I am grateful to the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, for his engagement this morning with the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. Many contributors to the debate have spoken about the rule of law. There is a collective opinion in this House that the situation in Poland simply is not tolerable. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, in particular for his strong comments on the margins of the General Affairs Council, which reflect the opinion of the wider House and not just the governing parties.

As set out by the Taoiseach, the agenda comprises many important issues. Deputies from across the House have touched on many of those issues or on specific issues. I would like to refer to one specific element, that is, trade, which the Taoiseach referenced in his address today and spoke about last week in terms of Europe and the wider world at the meeting in Slovenia. There are three areas we need to look at. All of them are related to the fateful decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. Ireland is a small export-based country, with an economic region that goes beyond our nearest neighbours. On trade within the European Union and within the Single Market, that is, access to the world's largest global bloc, it is important that we continue to support indigenous companies through the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to work with partners within the Single Market to have more Irish products going not only to Germany and France, but much further afield into Bulgaria, Romania and many other countries. There are huge opportunities for Ireland to not only insulate from the true impact of Brexit but to grow our economy and continue to move way from our dependence on our nearest neighbours. That is tied to our trading relationship not just within the Single Market but beyond it with third party countries through a plethora of European trade deals. It is vital that Ireland leads and shows example in a European context and that we swiftly ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, in this House now that it has completed the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs process. We must also continue to work with European partners on European-based trade deals that are good for the Irish economy and good for the wider global economy, as well as our responsibilities to the climate emergency. We need to bear in mind the draft deal with the Mercosur region in that context.

The most important trade deal at the moment is the trade and co-operation agreement, TCA, between the EU and UK post Brexit. I welcome the decision this week by the European Parliament to appoint Irish MEPs such as Barry Andrews and Seán Kelly, who is from my own political family, to the new EU-UK body. It is crucial that there is constant engagement between parliamentarians, be it through the European Council or the British-Irish Parliamentary Association, as well as between the European Commission and the United Kingdom Government. As stated by many other Deputies thus far in the debate, there are huge concerns in regard to the British Government being a trustworthy partner to the European Union and, specifically, to Ireland. Those concerns are held by every person on this island. There is a massive economic and societal impact of the actions that are being taken at the moment in Whitehall, for whatever reason. Once again, Ireland finds itself in the middle in a European context in terms of playing the most important role when it comes to the Brexit discussion to ensure that the very generous offer made last week by the European Commission, through Commissioner Šefčovič, is genuinely followed up. I appreciate that huge sacrifices and comprises were made within the European Union, between member states and between various Directorates General of the European Commission. That should not be lost on our friends in the United Kingdom.

As others have referred to, the introduction to the talks at this late stage of the competence of the European Court of Justice is absolutely a red herring. It flies in the face of, as I mentioned earlier, so many other trade deals in which the European Commission has engaged with other third party countries and which the United Kingdom was happy to sign up to when part of the European Union or as it rolled over trade deals with other countries. That is what is at stake in a trading capacity. I fundamentally believe that a trading relationship that can salvage something from the post-Brexit fall-out has to be one based on good faith and trust. The implementation of the protocol is crucially important to this.

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