Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The arrangement in the visa system at present is that when a short-term visa is granted to enter the United Kingdom, the person may enter the Republic of Ireland and from here travel to the North of Ireland. The ideal would be to have a reciprocal arrangement in place, that is, where a person who received a visa to enter the Republic of Ireland would be able to gain access to the United Kingdom and travel to Northern Ireland without requiring a separate visa. We are working our way towards that. Our systems of checking are not as sophisticated as they are in the United Kingdom and we need to bring them up to speed in certain areas to satisfy the UK authorities that there are no security issues that could arise as a result of a reciprocal arrangement. Work is being done in that area. I am not saying this in a party political context but there is work that should have been done in that area. Updated technical systems should have been put in place perhaps two or three years ago but was not done. This work has to be resourced and identifying the resources is a particular issue. I very much hope that we will get to that place in the not too distant future. I have spoken to the Ministers concerned and the United Kingdom does not have any difficulty in this regard, provided we have in place exactly the same protective mechanisms as it has. I hope if I am standing here in about 12 months' time, the problem will have been resolved.

As the House is about to discuss matters on the Adjournment, I wish to advise that I have a commitment arising from a Garda event. I am aware that an issue in my brief has been raised on the Adjournment. The Minister of Stateat the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Sean Sherlock, has been fully briefed and will deal with the issue. I apologise for that.