Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their engagement. I am sure we will be talking about Brexit in this House again. I know there is a lot of interest in it, and indeed in other issues linked to Northern Ireland and our relationships on this island.Of course there is an impatience for certainty in these negotiations. Often, when people speak about Brexit in this House or in the Dáil, there is a sense that no solution is possible because we do not have a solution now. This is arguably the most complex negotiation Ireland has been involved in in my lifetime when we consider the political circumstances we find ourselves in. We are trying to negotiate our closest neighbour leaving the European Union, along with part of our island. Britain will leave 750 international agreements the moment it leaves the European Union. This involves unwinding 46 years of membership and everything that has been built up, layer by layer, by virtue of EU membership. It involves trying to manage a situation where 38,000 Irish companies trade directly with Britain every single month. Some 200,000 people work for those 38,000 companies, which represents 10% of our workforce. There is a relationship worth €65 billion in terms of trade, which is €1.3 billion every single week. That is a large amount of money for 5 million people. Of course, factored into that is a commitment and determination to protect the Good Friday Agreement, put in place as a foundation for peace in Northern Ireland 20 years ago, which itself was a very complicated but hugely important framework for peace and reconciliation which allowed neighbours to live together in the absence of conflict and friction on this island. We have to protect that through all of these negotiations.

There is a different and somewhat confused political situation in Westminster, after a referendum on EU membership which resulted in a vote which was almost 50-50. Of course, a majority in Northern Ireland voted not to leave the European Union, as was the case in Scotland, yet both of those places are leaving the EU because they are part of the broader United Kingdom. We have one party in Northern Ireland which is part of a confidence and supply agreement with the British Government, allowing it to pass legislation. We have an absence of devolved government in Northern Ireland during all of this, and we are trying to put that back together too. We are facing multiple challenges at the same time. We are trying to maintain relationships throughout all of this.

Ireland is determined to stay in the European Union as an active supporter of the project, and as part of a Single Market that has been so good for the Irish economy, while at the same time ensuring that our relationship with Britain remains closer than ever post-Brexit. There are more Irish-born people living in Britain than there are people living in Connaught, in case anyone is unclear about how interwoven this relationship is.

All of that complexity is part of what Ireland brings to this negotiation. Britain also has many other things to deal with besides the Irish issues. We have focused on building a solidarity on the Irish issues, and we should not forget the progress we have made. Ireland is at the centre of these negotiations. A relatively small EU member state is now probably more influential in these negotiations than any other member state in the European Union. Our relationship with Michel Barnier and his task force, which is negotiating on behalf of 27 countries, is very special. I am sure Mr. Barnier would not mind my saying that. We literally work with that team on a daily basis to try to figure out these issues.

I do not see this as Ireland versus Britain. We need to work with the United Kingdom to try to find a way forward to ensure that at the end of this process, we maintain the closest possible relationship with it that we can. Britain is going to be outside the EU, but will still be tied to Europe as a confidant in the future. That is the objective, and we have already succeeded in getting many of our specific Irish issues across the line. The preservation of the common travel area will allow students from Northern Ireland to come to Trinity and other universities in the future. There is much consensus that the Erasmus programme has to be maintained. We have consensus that PEACE funding has to be maintained into the future. We have a clear political commitment that there will be no border infrastructure of any kind and no related checks or controls. We also have an agreement that a backstop insurance mechanism will be put in place as a fall-back position if we cannot negotiate something better. I want to be clear; we do not want any border down the Irish Sea, in the same way that we do not want any border on the island of Ireland. It is not in Ireland's interest for that to happen. However, the current negotiating position of the British Government makes many of those things more difficult than they need to be. There is an acceptance that the next move on the Border issue is Britain's to make.

The progress of the negotiations will be assessed towards the end of June. I am optimistic and confident that we can find a way forward. While we will continue to prepare for the worst-case scenario - much of the contingency planning has been done - I believe we will make progress on citizens' rights issues. I also believe that we will see a list emerging in annexe 1; I am glad to say that there is goodwill in the effort to make that work from both sides. We can also find a way forward on the Border issue, but it will require a change of approach from the British negotiating team, and I hope that we see that soon.