Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I felt that there was a case to be made for having one Minister in the Cabinet dealing with the Brexit issue. However, the Minister is making a very good case. It is a debatable issue. I am very confident in his approach to this issue after his statement here today. It was extremely comprehensive. In the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister has a tremendous amount of ambassadorial support represented in Europe. On the trade side, on which I served for a period as a trade Minister, he has tremendous backup. Those are two very important issues which affect the future of this country.

With regard to the negotiating team, all of the negotiators are civil servants as far as I can see. Those negotiations are going to be held in secret with the British Government. As the country most affected by the outcome of the negotiations, surely we should have a representative at those negotiations. Ireland is the most affected of the 26 other member states. We are the only country with a border with the UK and it is absolutely vital that we have an open border, as the Minister said. I fully accept what he is saying. I would like the Minister to comment on that. I might not be here because I am going to a meeting of the Joint Committee on European Affairs, of which I am the Vice Chairman, at 4 p.m. I may not be here for his reply and I apologise for that.

In the circumstances, I feel that our Government should make a very strong case for having a senior ambassadorial representative at the negotiations and discussions. No other country could challenge the fact that we are the most affected of all the 27 remaining member states. These negotiations are held in secret, like the negotiations on the trade agreements with Canada and the US where we were not being kept aware of the actual details of the implications of those agreements. Therefore, I believe it is very important. I know that the Minister might say that the Council of Ministers, the Prime Ministers and the Presidents of the EU will be briefed regularly on the negotiations. We also have the European Commission which I presume will also be briefed. We have an Irish Commissioner, though he takes an oath to the EU and I accept that. I know that Commissioner Hogan will be very knowledgeable on the issues involved and will certainly not forget his base in these issues.

At the Joint Committee on European Affairs, which is chaired by Deputy Michael Healy-Rae and of which I am the Vice Chairman, we are taking the situation very seriously. We are involved with the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy, in discussions on the MEPs and we are giving any opportunity we can to pushing forward the idea. It is a totally united approach. Every party and none must be together with the Government. This is Ireland's call and it is Ireland's fight. Nobody can use any issue for political purpose in this particular regard. That is why in the Joint Committee on European Affairs we are inviting - I put the invitation and I hope it will be accepted - representatives of all the European affairs committees in the other 26 countries to send a representative to Ireland and we will show them the Border we have with Northern Ireland. It is the most porous border in all of Europe. The effects of a hard border would be detrimental to the interests of the Republic.

The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly is a vehicle as well. I welcome the Taoiseach's decision to have an all-Ireland discussion in November. That is positive. The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly will have a meeting in Cardiff at the end of November and had a recent meeting in Malahide. It was totally opposed to any return to a hard border. That is very important. That came from both the Unionist and the Nationalist traditions in Northern Ireland. Nobody ever wants to see those borders again. That is an important forum. I hope the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade might be able to attend the assembly. I know his schedule is very tight and he has other meetings with Ministers from Northern Ireland. I feel that the Cardiff meeting will be very important because the issue is developing. Everyone of us - not just the Minister - who has any influence, whether it is in national or international organisations, can use it to ensure that we have a successful outcome to the negotiations between the UK and the EU in the best interests of Ireland. I have total confidence in the Minister's ability to ensure that this matter is dealt with at the highest level and in the most effective way.