Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the Leader for the tongue lashing I gave him the other day on the issue of county councillors' pay and the notion that there might have been some sort of deal done in that regard on some Thursday night in a dark smokey room with his fellow Fine Gael Senators. The Minister set out his views in that regard on Friday last at the Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, conference, so I think everybody now knows where we are going in that regard.

A few days after the UK Brexit vote I spoke about the possibility of a hard border being put in place. I also issued a press statement on the matter. Quite a number of people scoffed at that suggestion and said there was no possibility of that happening and that a deal would be done between Ireland and the UK in that regard. This matter will be decided not by Ireland and the UK but the 26 remaining member countries of the EU. There are a couple of issues of concern to me. With the agreement of the Leader I would like the Minister for Defence to come to this House at his convenience to discuss the preparedness of the Defence Forces to man a border should that be required. I am not saying this is what Ireland wants. I also do not believe it is what the UK wants but there are other countries involved. This matter may be taken out of our hands over the next number of months. The uncertainty is so great that we must ensure we are prepared for every eventuality.

I also ask that the Leader invite the Minister for Finance to this House to discuss the revenue implications of a hard border or soft border being imposed. The movement of up to 30,000 people across the Border or the transportation of 1 million gallons of milk back and forth across the Border are issues that will have a massive impact on the Irish and UK economies. We need to address this issue. I compliment the Taoiseach on his looking at this issue in an all-Ireland capacity.

I ask the Leader to endeavour to have the Ministers for Defence and Finance come to the House to discuss those issues.