Ian Marshall (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The House will be aware that yesterday, Mr. Chris Patten, a former junior Minister in Northern Ireland and former chairman of the Policing Commission, was in Dublin and raised serious concerns about Brexit. He referred to a nationalist rage getting the UK into a terrible mess in an effort to control trade policy and take back control from the EU, and said that ultimately the UK will end up taking the rules that determine commerce from other places, such as China or even the United States. He said there is no doubt that ideology is overruling common sense and rational thinking. He went on to say: "It is strange that as Ireland has become more pluralist, more extrovert, more committed to individual liberty and human rights as a constructive member of the European Union, Britain has become less comfortable and has felt less at home as a member of the Union to which it has belonged pretty much on its own terms."

As the sand rapidly runs through the hourglass we are getting more concerned that no deal due to intransigence could be a reality. It is a horrendous situation for Ireland, North and South. I have no doubt that Northern Ireland will be collateral damage in any such scenario. The other collateral damage will be to the rural economy in Ireland. Yesterday in Dublin Castle, at the national economic dialogue event, a number of stakeholders made representations and raised concerns about economic uncertainty. Figures shared with me by the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, indicate that the agrifood industry is Ireland's largest indigenous industry. It supports 300,000 jobs, creating €26 billion in turnover, and currently is in one of the areas of the Border conundrum that has proved too difficult a nut to crack. If the figures are correct, and I have no doubt they are, a proposed cut in Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, support of 5%, with a 2% proxy rate of inflation applied, actually amounts to a potential 17% loss in real terms. Translated into finances is a further €3,004 reduction in the average income. That is unacceptable. Coupled with a potential distortion in trade, tariff implications, production costs and added uncertainty, it leaves the rural economy in a very precarious situation. Mr. Chris Patten said yesterday that the UK needs to work closely with its neighbours in order to look after its own interests, but that this argument had not been heard very often at Westminster.

Yesterday, the summer economic statement was discussed in the House. It referred to growth in the economy and an ambition to ensure steady and sustainable growth. However, the challenge to this will be to mitigate these risks and ensure that due to extremely high levels of rainfall we have enough in the coffers to address calling on any rainy day fund. It is concerning that for us the first priority is a resolution to the Brexit discussion whereas at today’s EU Council meeting it is far from the top of the agenda. Summer time and a heatwave must not distract from the importance and significance of negotiating and getting agreement on what the potential position post Brexit could look like and what it will deliver for Ireland.