Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her intervention. We are less than 12 hours away from the looming deadline in Northern Ireland where it appears that yet another election will be called. The people of Northern Ireland have been left without a functioning Executive for six months as we approach a deepened winter cost-of-living crisis and as we see significant issues around governance and day-to-day administration that need to be resolved but cannot be resolved without a functioning Administration in the North. There was a deeply worrying report today of Ukrainian refugees being targeted by gangs in the North who are exploiting the political stalemate and the Border to bring refugees into human trafficking and the brutal exploitation of the sex trade, while there is a £90 million funding shortage for the PSNI that needs to be resolved to ensure this can be policed. As we speak, Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are gathering in Stormont to try to elect a Speaker and get on with the job of governing, but it appears that nothing will change the current position of the DUP, which will maintain its veto, and so it seems the stark reality is that the British Government will call an election at five minutes past midnight. As Claire Hanna MP from our sister party, the SDLP, said this morning on RTÉ, an election called in this way and under such duress is unlikely to change much and may even entrench stalemate and delay any return to normal negotiations between the EU 27 and the British Government on seeking to resolve issues with the protocol. If no Executive is formed, we know there will not be a return to the direct rule of the past, so how will democratic institutions be restored?

The assembly has not had a functioning Executive for four out of the past six years due to intransigence on the part of different parties, so it must be time to look at reform. Since the changes resulting from the St. Andrews Agreement, the largest party in either designated community can in effect use a veto against the formation of a power-sharing Executive. The use of that veto has entrenched division, hollowed out the centre ground parties and resulted in more voters opting for unaligned alternatives, as we saw in the most recent Stormont election, yet the current structures take no account of the rise of support for parties that do not designate as either unionist or nationalist. It is deeply damaging to efforts to normalise politics in the North when either of the two largest parties can veto power-sharing. It appears the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the British Government do not have a plan B for what will happen after the likely election in mid-December in the North. We will be no closer to an Executive. The election is unlikely to change the position of the DUP. We are approaching the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement with the principles at the heart of it that are so crucial on consent and partnership, and yet there is no functioning Executive.

Is it time to consider reforms that would allow those parties that are willing and ready to form an Executive to carry on with their work? Is there a plan B for the Irish Government to ensure that, after a likely election is held, we can see necessary reforms put in place in keeping with the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement to ensure a functioning Administration in the North?

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