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

The Government condemns in the strongest possible terms Saturday's car bomb in Derry. I spoke to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland yesterday and I offered both our concern and assistance. The police investigation is ongoing to bring to justice those who are behind this act of terrorism. Such violence has been rejected by the people of this island again and again. The group that carried out this act cannot claim in any way to be acting on behalf of the Irish people. I know Senators from all parties and none will share in this condemnation. There can be no return to the dark days of the past anywhere on this island.

The Brexit process in the UK is at a critical juncture. The Government regretted the outcome of last week's vote in the House of Commons on the withdrawal agreement, even if the outcome itself was not a big surprise. Prime Minister May yesterday stated her continuing commitment to the withdrawal agreement and said she would continue efforts to build the necessary support in Westminster. The British political and parliamentary process will take some time to play out. What we need is for the UK to make it clear on the basis of the outcome of that process how it proposes to move forward. Only then, in truth, can the EU consider how to respond.

As Senators know, the backstop is an insurance policy to ensure that there is no hard border on this island following Brexit. It an essential part of the withdrawal agreement and we continue to advocate for it. However, it is our strong hope that a comprehensive and ambitious future relationship agreement will achieve the same end and ensure that the backstop is never triggered or needed.

Our EU partners have been consistently supportive and understanding of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland and of the need to protect the Good Friday Agreement. Their solidarity has been consistent throughout the negotiations. This was reaffirmed to me by Michel Barnier as late as yesterday, and the unambiguous message remains that there can be no withdrawal agreement without the backstop. Lest there be any doubt, there should be absolute clarity as well that the EU negotiates as one, and that this united approach will remain intact until the end of the process.

Domestically, preparing for Brexit, and for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, is a whole-of-Government priority. Our planning began ahead of the UK referendum, and in recent months has become more focussed on our no-deal plans. We are all deeply aware of the potentially profound political, economic and trade impacts of a no-deal Brexit. The Government is taking clear steps to mitigate these impacts, but given the scale and uncertainty surrounding a no-deal Brexit, we must all recognise that if such an outcome materialises, there will be significant disruption and change. I have said repeatedly that it will put significant strain both on the political mechanisms in this country and on the economy.

That requires a response from the Government but also preparations by businesses and other affected sectors, with the advice and support that the Government is giving. Since July 2018, the Government has made a number of key decisions on Brexit preparedness, including on staffing, ICT and infrastructure at the ports and airports. In light of the risks of a no-deal Brexit, this work is now being accelerated and, where necessary, interim measures are being put in place. On 19 December, the Government published its Contingency Action Plan, setting out its approach to dealing with a no-deal Brexit., and Members will have seen the further intensification of preparations so far throughout the month of January where we have added significantly to the detail of that document.

We are working on the preparation of temporary sites and infrastructure at ports and airports and on accelerated staffing plans through recruitment and redeployment, where necessary.

The Cabinet earlier this month - and again today - advanced work on the legislation necessary in a range of areas to mitigate the damaging effects of a no-deal Brexit. There are multiple issues, including students who travel between Britain and Ireland, rail services and other public transport, healthcare, particularly cross-Border, and in the justice and social welfare areas.

As the House will be aware, it is proposed to group all the legislation affecting different sectors into one omnibus Bill. This Bill will have 17 Parts focused on the broad themes of protecting the citizen and supporting the economy, enterprise and jobs. This will be complemented by a range of measures by way of statutory instrument. Essentially, the legislation will be 17 Bills in one involving nine Departments, including the Department of the Taoiseach, and 28 statutory instruments or secondary Bills will be required to complement that. I look forward to providing all of that detail to the House shortly.

I look forward to working closely with all parties and Oireachtas Members to ensure that this necessary Brexit legislation will pass through the Houses in a manner which allows for necessary scrutiny but also ensures its passage and enactment before 29 March 2019.

Our membership of the EU and the stability and solidarity it brings are central to our own preparations. The approach in areas of EU competence has included the publication of more than 80 separate stakeholder notices to assist businesses and citizens in their preparations.

The Commission Contingency Actions Plans have provided some welcome reassurance in areas such as aviation and road haulage but have also emphasised the significant disruption resulting from a no-deal Brexit. These plans have also helped to guide our domestic response. It is also important to say that while they are providing temporary solutions in areas that would otherwise be in crisis post 29 March in a no-deal scenario, particularly aviation and haulage, those solutions are only temporary, by and large, between the end of March and the end of the year.

Stakeholder engagement is also critical. We will convene a fifth plenary session of the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Friday, 15 February, in Dublin Castle. These dialogues have been an invaluable opportunity to hear directly about the all-island implications of Brexit from a variety of stakeholders and across a wide range of sectors.

A no-deal outcome is not the one we want but given the ongoing political uncertainty in London, it is only prudent at this stage to intensify our preparations for a no deal. As the Taoiseach repeatedly has said now, we are not preparing any longer. We are putting the pieces in place, hoping that they will not be necessary but ensuring that we can do everything possible between now and the end of March, just in case.

I am grateful for the ongoing support of all political parties. Parties we have a competitive relationship with politically have been helpful when it comes to Brexit. That includes all parties represented in this House and the Lower House.

Regarding legislation, we are proposing that we will publish the heads of the omnibus legislation on Friday. It will then go to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel., which has given a commitment to publish that Bill in its full detail on 22 February, so its officials will have just over three weeks to do that. The following week, we will look to take it through Second Stage in the Dáil and the week after that, beginning 4 March, we will take Committee, Report and Final Stages in the Dáil. It will be the following week, beginning 11 March, that it will come into this House. That will be the week in the build-up to St. Patrick's Day.Many Deputies will not be present, therefore, but there is no reason we cannot get the work done in this House, should it be necessary to do so at that point.

In general terms, my approach to this subject is not party political; rather, it is transparent and open. Any Senators who need detailed briefings on Brexit will get them. I am confident that we will all work together to ensure that any preparations which are necessary for Senators to do a professional job as legislators in passing highly significant legislation to protect citizens will be accommodated. If we need to pass such legislation, we have a proposed process that can allow it to be done in time.

Nevertheless, this is all contingency planning. The real negotiation concerns how we can achieve an outcome that allows for the passing of a withdrawal agreement and a transition period of between two and four years to give everybody the time and space to plan for the new realities; that avoids the kind of crisis many people will face in the event of a no-deal Brexit, that provides the protections which the peace process on this island needs, and that provides the reassurance of no physical border infrastructure that is needed regardless of the outcomes of the political debates in the next few weeks. There is little we can do, however, to provide clarity in those negotiations until we get clarity from Westminster, which we should have more of next Tuesday evening. We might not have all the clarity we need but at least there will be votes on different options. I look forward to the Prime Minister's response to those votes and her proposal of a way forward to which, I hope, we can respond in a helpful way.

Let me be clear: Ireland does not propose any renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement or the backstop provision therein. That is the position of both the EU and Ireland, and it was reiterated yesterday by Mr. Michel Barnier and in the past few days by Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker and Mr. Donald Tusk. Despite yesterday's offer of an opinion by a Polish Minister who, it was subsequently clarified, was not speaking for the Polish Government, today in Brussels foreign Ministers lined up to reinforce the point that the position which I outline is the EU's position and that there is strong solidarity and unity behind it. I hope that reality will be part of the debate in Westminster as we look to find solutions for the future which, I hope, we can find in a new, changed and more ambitious future relationship declaration, on which the EU wishes to work with the United Kingdom, if the British Government wants to move in that direction. We will wait for a response in Westminster this week and next week, but the Irish position could not be clearer. It has been the same position for 18 months and it will not change.