Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will be here all night. I will share time with Senator Dolan.

I thank the Minister for his relentless work on Brexit and its impact on relationships as we know them on these islands. It is always worth mentioning that Ireland never wanted Brexit and, in many ways, aspects of this Bill underline the absurdity of it all. Why replace convergence with divergence or seamlessness with separation? I know the Minister is doing his best to deal with what we call the interdependence and interlocking nature of the relationships, North and South, east and west. These relationships are the basis of the Good Friday Agreement and of something that is deeper and more meaningful than trade and neighbourliness alone. So much more is at stake. The Minister is dealing with the complexity of the arrangements based on those relationships and is unweaving and weaving them back together as best he can.

I am appreciative that the Bill aims to protect citizens, consumers and businesses, the common travel area and North-South co-operation. Despite all this work, it is a pity we are here at all. The omnibus Bill is one part of the jigsaw but so too is the future relationship deal and the vital implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. There can be no wriggle room or wriggling out of that. It has to be said that the Minister and Government have stepped up for people across the island of Ireland, North and South, when it has really mattered, as have people like Claire Hanna, Colum Eastwood and Stephen Farry, to protect lives, livelihoods and ways of life. These are the bread and butter issues we take for granted because of cross-Border freedom and the Good Friday Agreement.I recognise the Minister's commitment to ensuring that the common travel area will be maintained in all circumstances and that reciprocal rights will be safeguarded. Being Brexit-ready is incredibly complex and detailed, and that is reflected in the significance and the size of the Bill.

As someone who obviously has very close ties to the North, the importance of access to healthcare North and South, the European Health Insurance Card for residents of Northern Ireland, the Erasmus programme, third level education fluidity, access in Northern Ireland to Horizon 2020 funding, social welfare arrangements, pensions, childcare, bus services, and relationship statuses cannot be underestimated. I know that the Minister is working relentlessly on these issues, but if he has the opportunity, he might address the issue of the Erasmus programme and the Horizon 2020 funding.

We await further news on the future relationship, but regardless of the outcome of the talks, the full implementation of the withdrawal agreement, including the protocol, is the only way forward, given the protocol provides that there will be no dilution of the rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity provided for the people of the North, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement. I particularly look forward to working with the Minister on that. The rights of EU citizens in the North are specifically addressed in the Bill and it confirms that Irish citizens in Northern Ireland will continue to enjoy, exercise and have access to rights, opportunities and benefits that will come with EU citizenship.

I wish to reinforce the issue of Northern Irish inputs to EU exports as part of the future relationship. The dairy and Irish whiskey industries are integrated all-island industries with seamless cross-Border supply chains. There are Northern Ireland inputs into EU exports such as milk and dairy products finished and exported from the Republic and Northern Irish whiskey included in Irish whiskey blended and exported from this State. I believe these products will no longer have EU originating status, because they contain non-EU inputs, and will potentially lose existing access to zero or reduced tariffs in markets for free trade arrangements. Businesses, therefore, are anxious that a resolution to this issue is found, and rules of origin and future post-Brexit free trade agreements are changed to allow Northern Ireland inputs in EU exports to benefit from them.

In conclusion, I want to highlight that this has always been, and will always be, about relationships. As parliamentarians, we must reinforce our commitment to building those relationships that have suffered because of Brexit, and the fall of the Executive, and we must remember the importance of the three strands. I know that the Minister is utterly committed to that and he is doing a fantastic job. Hopefully, we will see significant progress in the next few weeks.