Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Good afternoon, Minister of State. While I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important motion, I wish it was not necessary. I wish the UK had not left the European Union but, unfortunately, that train has left the station. Perhaps the UK will rejoin in due course.

I had read the motion and am happy to support it for three primary reasons. First, it has already been agreed at European Council level. The Council has done due diligence and its strong assessment is that this is the best way to proceed in light of the less than ideal circumstances. I agree with that recommendation.

Second, it makes sense for like-minded countries, particularly neighbours, regardless of which political bloc they align themselves with, to exchange information from a passenger name record point of view. That is for a number of reasons, including the fact that is in our interest to ensure there is good order in the skies and so that, if there is a tragedy or catastrophe, there is no ambiguity about who is on the aircraft and next of kin can be informed. As the Minister of State alluded to, the most important reason is from a law enforcement perspective. It is so that we are in a position to prevent, investigate and prosecute serious crimes by terrorist organisations and organised crime.

Third, I recognise and appreciate that we are here today because of a failure on the British side to implement IT systems and get structures in place. It is a recurring theme that they did not plan properly for Brexit but there is no point in punishing our nearest neighbour because it is in Ireland's interest that, on 31 December, there will not be not mayhem in the skies and that Irish and European Union passengers will be able to travel freely.

The other reason I am in favour of this is because the current arrangements are superior to those proposed by the UK Government. On that basis, I am happy that we roll the existing arrangements over. I wish the motion was not necessary but if past performance is an indicator of future behaviour, I suspect we will be back here in 12 months' time, rolling over the same motion until the sunset clause kicks in at the end of 2023.

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