Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for giving of his time today to debate this important matter.

One of the views that has been expressed is that England did not plan for this decision, which may be a misreading of the facts. There has been some work done in the UK with regard to how it would manage this exit. I have in my possession a report from the House of Lords which was sent for printing on 28 April 2016. That House examined the issues that would arise if the result of the referendum was in favour of leaving the EU. It is interesting to note some of the issues that were highlighted and what would be required. While the House of Lords identified clearly that the UK would, quite clearly, remain a member of the EU during the withdrawal negotiations, it also pointed out that the UK's credibility - as a member of the Union - would be severely undermined and that a policy of selective disengagement from some areas of EU policy might be necessary. So the authorities in the UK were already identifying this even before the referendum was held.

The UK is scheduled Presidency of the EU's Council of Ministers from July 2017. Questions now arise as to what is going to happen in this regard and when a decision will be made.Usually, when a state is due to hold the EU Presidency, a great deal of forward planning is required. The European Union will have to make a decision at this stage as to whether Britain will take on the Presidency in July 2017. That is an immediate issue that must be examined.

Ireland will be affected in a large number of areas. The area on which I have focused over the past few years is health care. We have a huge connection with the UK in medical services, with nurses and doctors going back and forth to work in both Ireland and the UK. What changes will now occur in that regard? There is also the fact that many services are provided by the UK health system to Irish people. How will we deal with that? It is a very important issue. One of the areas in which I was involved when I was a Member of the European Parliament was the introduction of a right for people to travel to another member state for health care if they cannot get it in their own jurisdiction. There was a benefit for Irish people in the new policy that was adopted at EU level and which was transposed into Irish law. Under the right to travel to another member state for treatment, most Irish people seeking health care outside Ireland would tend to travel to the UK. That is a huge change.

Another important area is patent law. Rather than companies having to travel to each of the 28 member states to register a patent, it was agreed that one could register it in the UK for all of Europe. That is another issue we will have to examine now. It was a huge advantage for Ireland to have that based in the UK, from the perspective that common law would decide on any dispute. How will we deal with that issue? It is an important matter as it ensured that red tape could be cut by having a single registration that applied to all 28 member states. This area must be examined immediately.

Our country faces many challenges with this. However, we have a huge number of Irish people working at EU level both for the Irish Civil Service and also within the European civil service. It is important that we secure the best deal possible for Ireland in the negotiations, particularly for our exports. Approximately 37% of all our exports go to the UK, so they must be protected in the best way possible. I thank the Minister for taking the time to deal with this matter today.