Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise several issues. Yesterday, we saw the second meeting of the Ireland-Northern Ireland Specialised Committee between the UK Government and the European Commission. At this stage in the transition period, the Commission wanted a lot more done. For example, it wanted an office in Belfast, which was originally agreed by the UK but then denied. I requested that Dundalk be an option. I made my request to Josep Borrell in my capacity as a member of the Committee of the Regions. This is still an open option, I might add.

As far as I can see, far too much up is in the air and there is not enough clarity on the commitment by the UK Government on the Northern Ireland protocol. Yesterday, the Commission outlined how concerned it is about the progress of practical and time-consuming preparations needed for the full implementation of this protocol. We heard that last week Angela Merkel asked the EU Parliament to prepare for a no-deal scenario. What are the EU's contingency plans? I have fears about the UK's commitment to this protocol and I would appreciate the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs updating the House. Towns such as Dundalk and Newry, and all of our citizens along the Border, North and South, could again be collateral damage because of the UK Government refusing to accept that this one island is a unique political quandary, which it created in the first place.

I also welcome the North-South Ministerial Council meeting that will take place in the next two weeks. A very important issue I want pushed at this level is the local cross-Border trade and economy and how towns such as Omeath, which are between two large towns, have been abandoned and left behind because their hinterland is in the North. This is replicated throughout the Border region. A local practical plan has been approved in the context of the M1 corridor and it takes into consideration the importance of the all-Ireland economy of Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry and beyond. We need this pushed at the North-South Ministerial Council.

I also want to raise the issue of Carlingford Lough not being left behind any longer. It is an incredible tourism location. At local level, my Fianna Fáil and SDLP colleagues and I have been trying to push the lough, the Mourne Mountains and the Cooley Mountains as one location. We have a beautiful national resource waiting there and we are not embracing it. We need investment in particular on the Narrow Water bridge, greenway investments and a real cross-Border co-operation tourism plan.