Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is my first opportunity to engage with the Minister in the House, so I congratulate him on his appointment.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the proposal to opt in to the negotiating mandate of the EU-UK youth experience scheme, one proposed by the European Commission in April of last year to facilitate youth mobility and make it easier for young people from the EU and Britain, respectively, to study, work and live in Britain and the EU as the case may be.

I support the proposal to opt in to the negotiation process at this stage, essentially so that Ireland can play a role as an EU member state in shaping the Commission's negotiating mandate. While this is largely going to be a matter between the EU and Britain, it is right that Ireland would opt into any negotiation that could have an impact on this State, even if it has been stated explicitly at this point that any agreement would be without prejudice to the common travel area. Because of the Border and the unique position of the North and the common travel area, the priority in these instances must always be to protect Irish interests, the special position of the North, and Irish sovereignty in any negotiations taking place between the EU and the British Government.

Britain and its political parties and its body politic are still dealing with the fallout and political implications of the decision to leave the European Union. As a result, the prospect of this proposal moving forward is unclear, in particular given the initial response of the main British parties to the Commission's announcement. The proposal was rejected entirely by the then Conservative government and by the Labour Party, who were still in opposition at that point. They described the youth mobility scheme as synonymous with freedom of movement. In Ireland, we are also dealing with the challenges created by Brexit, nowhere more so than in the North, which was dragged out of the EU against the wishes of the majority of voters in the Six Counties. We cannot say that often enough. This has had many consequences, some of which were mitigated in the course of the withdrawal agreement, but others still have to be ironed out and some will only be addressed once we achieve a united Ireland.

The departure of Britain from the EU brought the debate on Irish unity to the fore, North and South. Importantly, during the Brexit negotiations European leaders unanimously approved the commitment guaranteeing that the North could rejoin the European Union as part of a united Ireland.

What we are missing now is an Irish Government that will proactively work to make Irish unity a reality, to plan, prepare and ensure that successful referenda take place by the end of the decade. The situation where Ireland is both a member of the European Union and part of a common travel area with Britain, which is outside the EU, presents very unique challenges, particularly in the area of migration. Those challenges, along with the need to protect Irish sovereignty, were the key reasons Sinn Féin opposed opting in to the EU asylum and migration pact entirely. Sinn Féin has argued, and it is worth repeating, that in order to deal with the challenges of managing migration as an EU state that is also part of the common travel area with Britain, the one-size-fits-all approach of the EU pact is not appropriate for Ireland. We need to have flexibility to operate a migration system that recognises our particular realities. For example, there is a need for bilateral arrangements with Britain, with parallel legislation, to provide more objective and clearly delineated criteria for determining responsibility for the processing of international protection applicants between both states and for immigration management at ports and airports.

One specific and urgent issue that we must address is that relating to the accommodation recognition payment for Ukrainians who are in Ireland under the temporary protection directive, particularly in the context of plans by the British Government to make changes shortly to its analogous homes for Ukrainians scheme. The accommodation recognition payment scheme for Ukrainians has created serious problems of unfairness in the private rented sector here. In many areas, including my own, where rents have been traditionally lower than in large urban centres, it is placing families and those seeking to rent private accommodation at a severe disadvantage because landlords are able to get €800 tax free through the accommodation recognition payment. The end result of this is that people cannot find places to rent in their own home towns. This issue is growing in many parts of rural constituencies in particular, and is creating a tension that we, quite frankly, could do without. Sinn Féin has called for the ending of the accommodation recognition payment because of the severe problems it is creating. I look forward to an early pronouncement from the Minister and the Government on how they intend to move forward as the scheme is due to lapse in a number of weeks. Given the common travel area and the plans by the British Government to cut payments under the comparable homes for Ukrainians scheme from £500 to £350, it is urgent that we deal with this matter. I urge the Minister to address this issue without delay and to set out the preparations he is undertaking for the ending of the temporary protection directive next year.

Brexit has had a particular impact on Ireland. Schemes like the one we are discussing will not always affect us directly. In fact, one of the ambitions of an Irish interaction with the EU-UK youth experience scheme is that it does not have implications for this State but we absolutely agree that it is important that Irish voices are at the table to ensure that is the case. We absolutely agree that we need to move forward, beyond Brexit and beyond the narrow-mindedness of those campaigners who brought about that decision, particularly those who did so using very dubious arguments. We are in a position to be a constructive and positive voice at the table. Only time will tell whether others will approach this so constructively and positively.

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