Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste. This is such a challenging unknown For all of us . Having spoken to people in my area, the issue is the uncertainty about what will happen. I welcome the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit to be held on Friday, 15 February in Dublin Castle because it will involve everyone working together to try to work around the serious issues that could face Ireland in the next few months. The greatest concerns relate to the Border, farming, businesses and employment. There is so much to be done yet so much uncertainty.

I refer to the issue of passports because it is one of the biggest issues in my clinics. I recently spoke a British national who is married to an Irish woman and who has children. Their children hold Irish passports. He inquired about the possibility of gaining an Irish passport but was told that while it was possible, he would have to live in Ireland for one year to qualify for naturalisation, thus citizenship. Can we ask a family to reconcile residency issues or ask them to move lock, stock and barrel to Ireland for one year? It is not practical. This man has an important job in England, as does his wife, and his children are all in school. I would like the Minister to clarify what is being preparing for these hard-working families who travel to Ireland regularly to see elderly relatives and family here. What is our contingency plan in this regard? I would also like to know what Brexit could mean for the right of UK citizens derived from Irish law under the EU freedom of movement legislation to come and live in Ireland without residency permits. These are all important issues. Another man to whom I spoke is English and has lived here for 42 years with his wife. He has children here. He has paid his taxes, including property tax, all his life. He applied for an Irish passport but he was told that for refugees and stateless persons, passports are free; for widows or widowers of Irish citizens the cost is €200; and for others, the cost is €950. This man does not have €950. What does he do? He has lived here for 42 years, is married to an Irish citizen, has children, has reared them and has paid his property tax and his other taxes. What are we going to do to help these people who need Irish passports?

I know I only have five minutes. I ask the Tánaiste for more clarification. It is only 66 more days until we will know whether this will be good or bad for us. At this stage we must prepare. The Tánaiste knows the old saying, "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail." It is a true saying. If we are not prepared for a hard border, if we are not prepared to get Ireland back on track, we are in trouble because it is the Irish people who will end up paying the price for all this. Perhaps he could come back to me with answers to some of my questions.