Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to make the Minister of State's life any more difficult than it is. While I understand and appreciate this is a complex issue and a trying time for the Government, this is really high-wire stuff. With the greatest of respect, the answer the Minister of State has given me is, more or less, the one I have been hearing for the past two years about this process. What we are not yet seeing is a resolution of the issue. While I fully understand and appreciate that the main responsibility for dealing with it rests with the British Government, inside our passports, it is stated the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for us. People need to hear these words, but they also need to see them being translated into action by the Government. There must be pressure from this state and our colleagues in the European Union. The British Government must be told that it will be in breach of the Good Friday Agreement if it does not codify in law what is expressed within it. Potentially, this issue affects 1.8 million people. It will not affect everyone as there are those who are content with their British citizenship and identity in the North. Fair play to them; I fully support and respect that right. However, an increasing number in the North, rightly and understandably, are demanding that their rights under the Good Friday Agreement be asserted and legislated for.

The Minister of State mentioned the speech made by the British Prime Minister on 5 February in which she outlined a review of these issues. We have heard no more about it since. Actually, what we have heard is the statement made by Ms Caroline Nokes, MP, on 7 March, that, as a matter of law, that we are all British. From 5 February to 7 March, that was the British Government's approach. We need to ensure we will up our game and that citizens, particularly those living in the North and those who will be affected the most, will see action by the Government because the situation is so precarious. I know that the Minister of State appreciates and understands this, but we need to start to see those words being translated into legal, actionable and tangible works.