Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As Leader of the House, I pay tribute to a former Member of the House, Dr. T.K. Whitaker, and express my condolences to his family on his passing since the House last met. Dr. Whitaker played a huge role in building a modern Ireland. As Leader of the House, it is appropriate and important that I pay tribute to him on behalf of all Members and sympathise with his family on their recent bereavement. He was a statesman and a state builder. In time, we will have expressions of sympathy in the House, but it is important on our first day back to sympathise with his family and pay tribute to him for his legacy and the work he did in building a modern Ireland.

I join the many Members of the House who paid tribute to the deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness, who has announced his intention to step down. As Leader of the House, I join the Cathaoirleach in lamenting the fact that we do not have the opportunity to have him in the House to listen to and engage with him not only on Brexit but on the future direction of our island. It is important to wish him well in his recovery from ill health and to thank him for the role he has played in bringing an end to paramilitary violence and building a solution to events in the North of our country. It is fair to say that we would not have had a peace process without him. I thank him and his family for his work. We may disagree with some of his past actions, but as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, he was an instrumental, key, pivotal and monumental figure in the building of a peace process based on the Good Friday Agreement, which he was part of negotiating. I wish the new Sinn Féin leader in the North, Michelle O'Neill, well in her job and hope she plays a positive role.

It is regrettable that we are in an election cycle in the North of our country. Those of us who watch events recognise that it could have been avoided. It is a pity we have an election and I hope all of the parties in the North will not play the political card, green, white or orange, but rather play the card of community to build on the Good Friday Agreement.

This Government, as was the last, is committed to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Senators McDowell and Reilly are former Ministers who engaged in North-South ministerial contact and played roles in different ways. It is incumbent on all of us who are custodians of politics to play a role in continuing to build on the political goodwill that has been achieved and the changes that have happened.

I do not want to be divisive but I note that the comments by Senator Ó Donnghaile regarding Senator Humphreys and the Labour Party were not helpful. Partisanship like that does not help. I ask the Senator to cast his mind back to the role that Dick Spring played in the building of the Anglo-Irish agreement and in his role in government with Fianna Fáil leading up to the Good Friday Agreement and beyond. We must recognise that all political parties have a role to play. I hope very much that we do not go down the road Senator Ó Donnghaile did this afternoon.

Many Members have spoken today and some themes have emerged. Senators Conway-Walsh, Humphreys, Murnane O'Connor, O'Sullivan and Landy referred to the launch yesterday of the action plan for rural Ireland. I heard Senator Conway-Walsh on the radio yesterday. It is important to welcome the fact that an action plan has been put in place with 275 points. Senator Mulherin is gone but at Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meetings over the last five years she called weekly for an action plan for rural Ireland. Following on from her interview yesterday, Senator Conway-Walsh should listen to Pat Spillane. We now have an action plan which involves a whole-of-government approach. It is a plan for investing and reinvigorating the fabric of rural Ireland. It contains 275 action plan points. Not even Sinn Féin can disagree that the Action Plan for Jobs was a success. Unemployment is at its lowest level in a decade. There are now more people back at work. The Government is aiming to create jobs and to have 135,000 people back at work in rural Ireland by 2020 in the very towns and villages about which Senator Conway-Walsh speaks every day.The plan is about developing primary care and supporting rural postal offices and education. It is also about supporting over 4,000 community projects in addition to putting in place the building blocks to work with and improve the Leader programme and the rural development programme. In addition, it is about investing. A total of €37 million will be invested in the village and town renewal scheme while €275 million will be invested in national broadband, which is the very thing we need in rural Ireland. A total of €4 billion will be invested in developing and enhancing the rural development programme between 2014 and 2020 while €250 million will be given to the Leader programme. The aim is improve the life of rural Ireland. It is a tangible list of projects that can be measured and delivered upon.

Rather than lamenting that it has taken until now to have an action plan, Members should remember that we had the worst recession in the history of our country. There was no money available. The previous Government was able to put in place the foundation so that our economy is now doing better and we can invest in the very fabric of society in rural Ireland. I hope we will welcome the rural Ireland development plan and the action plan, which is built upon five pillars: creating sustainable communities; supporting enterprise and employment; maximising rural tourism and recreation potential; fostering culture and creativity in rural communities; and improving rural infrastructure and connectivity. This is a plan that will deliver for rural Ireland. It deserves to be worked upon and deserves a chance to be implemented. People can then come back and review and critique it. If it has not worked, let us have another one but let us not come in here and have old politics whereby we criticise the Government for investing in rural Ireland.

Senators Craughwell, Conway-Walsh, Boyhan, Paddy Burke, Colm Burke, Reilly, Gavan, Ó Donnghaile and Humphreys all paid tribute to Martin McGuinness, for which I thank them. I wish all those running for election in Northern Ireland well and thank those who are stepping down. I pay tribute to Caitríona Ruane who is stepping down. I got to know her at the Constitutional Convention and we became good friends. I wish her well and thank her for the service she has given along with all the members of the Northern Ireland Assembly who are stepping down.

Senators Ardagh and Reilly referred to the Garda operation in Dublin Airport yesterday. It is important that we congratulate An Garda Síochána for the role it played in targeting illegal immigration and people smuggling at Dublin Airport. The Senators are correct in raising the issue of security and the importance of securing all our airports. It is important that we commend An Garda Síochána and work to ensure that our immigration officers at Dublin Airport, who process around 50 million passengers every year, are resourced and that we have constant vigilance in our airports and ports. It is important that we ensure that we have safety and security in our airports and ports. This is an evolving issue. I know people are before the courts today but it is important to commend those involved in the Garda operation and thank them for the role they played and the work they did yesterday.

Senators Craughwell and Ardagh raised the issue of Brexit at the beginning of their contributions. I will not be accepting amendments, not because I do not want to, but because the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will be coming to the House this week to discuss matters pertaining to the issues raised. The Seanad CPP is progressing with Senator McDowell's proposal around the Seanad motion on how this Chamber can play a role in and influence our stance regarding Brexit.

In respect of Senator Craughwell's comments regarding the role of the Government, it is worth noting that the Government has been preparing for Brexit for over 18 months. Part of the difficulty is because it is an evolving situation - a term I used earlier. We saw the UK Supreme Court decide by eight votes to three to refer the matter back to the UK Parliament. It is about prioritising what is best for us, regardless of whether it is a hard or soft Brexit.The important point is we take an island approach and both sides of the island work to protect our interests. To be fair, the Taoiseach and Government are doing this. The Taoiseach has engaged throughout Europe with a host of leaders, promulgating and advocating on behalf of Ireland and prioritising our national interest. As a consequence, he has made European leaders better informed on the challenges and threats to us as a country and has informed them on Ireland's position.

The Taoiseach will meet Prime Minister May in the coming weeks in Warsaw. She is going to Washington DC on Friday. I hope she does not take an insular approach to her meeting with President Trump and that she uses the meeting to outline to the President of the United States that the devolved assemblies of Northern Ireland and Scotland must also have a role. All of us would wish the UK was not leaving. The Taoiseach is the line Minister responsible. Many people jumped on the band wagon about having a specific specialised Brexit Ministry. This is an holistic Government approach. The Taoiseach has strengthened his Department and the Minister of State, Deputy Murphy, and the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, are playing a role. It is important that we continue to keep a watchful eye on evolving events. In saying this, it is important that Ireland plays a strong role in Europe and that our voices are heard. This is why the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, will appear before the House this week.

Senators Colm Burke, Feighan and Reilly made reference to locating the European Medicines Agency in Ireland. Senator Feighan deserves praise for being the first to mention it and the Minister, Deputy Harris, deserves credit for making an attempt to bring the European Medicines Agency to Ireland. Nine out of ten pharmaceutical companies are located in Cork, and as a Cork person, as are Senator Colm Burke and the Cathaoirleach, I hope Cork will be the location, given we have the Tyndall Institute, University College Cork and CIT, which play a strong role in research and innovation in the region.