Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Fianna Fáil will be supporting this very important legislation. However, it is baffling that it took ten years to bring it to the House following the European Commission decision. It took a formal letter last November before the Government acted. Could the Minister explain to the House the reason for the delay? It is quite clear that up-to-date criminal records of citizens of member states are urgently required. I have a concern about the situation post-Brexit because only EU member states can access this database. When the UK is no longer a member, it will send requests to the Irish Government. What mechanisms are in place to deal with that?