Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry. Perhaps the sound system is not good.

In terms of the Brexit discussions taking place in Brussels involving the Heads of Government, I note that there is a proposal not to hold a meeting in November because it looks like the current meeting will be inconclusive. I understand that meetings are being arranged for December and prior to the end of this year where, hopefully, there will be a major breakthrough in this regard. We all wish the Government well in the negotiations and, in particular, I commend the leader of Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party or the ALDE group. We are in Brussels to support the Government and the negotiations because quite a number of our colleagues are Prime Ministers in different countries throughout the European Union.

At this point in time there has been a major surge in UK searches for information on Irish passports and citizenship. There is a great interest in ensuring that people in Britain would apply for and receive an Irish passport. If a person's grandparent was born in the Republic of Ireland, then he or she should be eligible for a passport. I commend such passports and recommend that people in Britain apply. I wish to refer to the fact that 1.5 million citizens in Northern Ireland are fully entitled to an Irish passport, which is very important, so they can hold dual passports.

I recommend that Irish people living in Britain apply for a British passport because two passports are useful particularly in a situation where we have such close links with our nearest neighbour. If a parent of an Irish person was born prior to 1922 or prior to 1949, then he or she is eligible because we were declared a Republic then. By applying now Irish people can hold dual passports. There is nothing shameful about holding dual passports and it is something to be proud of. British people are delighted to have an Irish passport, which is a European passport. Many Members are eligible to hold a British passport and thus their families are eligible. They may not want or need a British passport but they should remember that in many years to come, their grandchildren would be eligible through them applying for a passport now. I am quite proud to recommend that both British and Irish people apply for dual passports because we have a shared past and a shared future.