Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has been a while since we have had a debate on the very important and pertinent issue of Brexit. At the very least we should have statements although I would prefer a debate with either the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Taoiseach, given the gravity of the situation which we all acknowledge and have conceded in the House over many debates and statements in the past.

Yesterday I attended the launch of independent legal advice commissioned by the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament. It was carried out by Doughty Street Chambers, a very highly regarded law firm in the area of human rights. The legal opinion is quite a comprehensive piece of work and I commend it to Members. It is available online. It states very clearly there is no legal barrier to securing special status for the North of Ireland within the EU. There is growing consensus across the European institutions that there needs to be a special arrangement for Ireland, in particular for the North, given our unique circumstances. It is apt that we have such a discussion.

The Seanad oversaw the establishment of the Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. We had a comprehensive series of hearings but that work has stopped and I do not think it should. As rightly pointed out by Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, the Seanad should be proactive on this issue and it should be vocal and outwardly facing.

The report we compiled as a committee is unfortunately sitting on a shelf. We should take it to Brussels and Westminster and engage on the basis of the research. We should not only engage on the basis of the research we have carried out thus far but we should be proactive and consider reconvening the committee to look at the ongoing issues as a result of Brexit. Mar fhocal scoir, I commend the independent legal advice to Members for their attention and call on the Leader again for an update from the Government on Brexit.