Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I say that as somebody some of whose family has very much been in that category. I want to give a commitment that we will certainly look at that issue. As I say, if a British person living in Ireland wants to get an Irish passport and he or she has been living here for years, that person is more than welcome to become an Irish citizen and we will facilitate that in as seamless a way as possible, both from a timeline and an expense perspective.

I am conscious I need to wind up. It is a little unfortunate that some in the debate today decided to use the opportunity to have a go at the so-called faceless, unelected Commission making decisions and so on. Let us not forget it is the Commission that is focusing on protecting Ireland right now. There is a Commissioner who has been texting me while I have been here in this debate looking for me to call him in the context of the implementation of the protocol and making sure that Ireland's interests are fully understood in terms of compromises that are being looked at. These unelected faceless Commissioners are deeply interested in Ireland's welfare in the context of the EU protecting one of its smaller member states amid its vulnerabilities, as these negotiations hopefully close out. Such sloganisation of language is not appropriate today.

The same Senator raised a very relevant point in relation to energy and our reliance on the UK, in particular, for gas importation. He is correct on that. We have an agreement as part of the protocol for an all-island energy market, which is really important, particularly for Northern Ireland, given how reliant it is on the management of the electricity grid south of the Border. It is important that we protect those interests to make sure that there is not a significant disruption to energy supplies and electricity supplies on the island of Ireland as a whole.

In terms of the Green Party contribution, I do not want to go into the Pat Finucane case in this debate. It was hugely disappointing yesterday. I am really disappointed for the family in particular. This was a missed opportunity, in my view, for the British Government to do the right thing and to send a signal to all families of victims in Northern Ireland that we are moving into an era of establishing truth even if that is awkward and dark, and difficult. It is unfortunate that they have not taken that opportunity. Having said that, the Secretary of State has made it clear that this is not the end of the story. They have not ruled out a full public inquiry but they have decided not to do it for now. We will continue to advocate for that course of action and, hopefully, achieve it at some point in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, this case will be discussed and raised in the Council of Europe this week. I signed off on the contribution that we will be making to that debate earlier today.

In response to Senators Currie and Dolan, I have mentioned the issues pertaining to EHIC, Erasmus and cross-border health. Senator Currie has raised with me on numerous occasions this issue of businesses in Northern Ireland being able to benefit from EU trade agreements. It is an important issue. It is a problem. Frankly, because of the country of origin rules in the European Union, goods that are produced in Northern Ireland are not considered EU origin - they are UK origin - and therefore do not benefit from EU trade agreements that require EU origin goods. I have been advocating on that issue to try and accommodate the concerns of businesses in Northern Ireland and I will continue to do that. It is not easy to solve. Essentially, existing trade agreements - there are approximately 60 of them - would have to be amended individually, one after the other, which would have to get the agreement of the third party, in other words, the other country, in order to add Northern Ireland to the EU in terms of country of origin for those trade agreements. That would take time. We can continue to advocate for that, even after the end of the transition period. This is something that we can resolve, I hope, over time. It will not be done immediately because if one seeks to change a trade agreement with a third country, it may well look for a counter-change that it wants. These changes are not done quickly or easily.It is important to be honest about that. It is an issue that we will continue to pursue.

We must not forget that businesses in Northern Ireland have the extraordinary benefit in the protocol of being able to sell into a market of 450 million people across the EU. The protocol effectively creates a de facto extension of the EU Single Market for goods and applies it to Northern Ireland. It is a phenomenal agreement and business opportunity because Northern Ireland will also have unfettered access to Great Britain. Most of the focus on the protocol to date has been negative and has involved checking systems, issues around mincemeat, sausages, potatoes and so on. Where there are difficulties we need to try to help to resolve them for supermarkets, supply chains and so on. There is, however, a significant upside to the protocol, apart from preventing the need for Border infrastructure on the island, helping to protect the peace process and so on. Traders or exporters in Northern Ireland can sell into the EU Single Market as if they were part of it. They can also sell into Great Britain as part of the UK. It is only when people are importing from Great Britain into Northern Ireland that the goods have to be treated as if they are coming into the EU Single Market and, therefore, there are some checks. There is a significant upside to the protocol that I believe business interests will take advantage of over time.

People have asked when we will get the €5 billion Brexit adjustment fund. It is for all EU countries, not just Ireland. We will receive a significant portion of it. There has been negotiation on it. I do not want to start declaring figures, but the House can rest assured that Ireland will get significantly more than any other country despite the fact that we are much smaller than a country like France, which will also have to manage quite a lot of disruption due to Brexit.

In the European Commission, which has Ireland's interests at heart - the fund was put in place for countries like Ireland - there is a recognition that we will get significantly more than any other country. We will not get all of the fund; it is a €5 billion fund for 27 countries. The countries and the sectors within those countries that will be most disrupted will be those which can access the lion's share of that fund.

It will not be used as some kind of fisheries compensation fund. It is important that I say that. Fisheries are an important issue and some compensation may be linked to whatever final deal is done, although I am primarily interested in access to fish rather than to funds. That is the approach we are taking in the negotiations. I am assured that the fund will be available early after the transition period ends. In other words, we should be able to access it, or at least a portion of it, early next year to help us fund the transition and supports that we may need to put in place for some sectors that will be significantly disrupted.

We should not forget that the Brexit adjustment fund was put in place on the assumption of a deal, rather than there being no deal. If there is no deal, the level of supports will need to be even higher. I suspect we will get flexibility in the context of the application of state aid rules and so on to be able to respond accordingly, should we need to.

I have answered most of the questions. I thank Senators for taking such an interest in Brexit and working with me. This is not the normal way to deal with legislation. We are introducing a Bill with 22 Parts and which involves 11 different Ministers. They will come to the House, one after the other, to deal with their sections on Thursday. That is not the normal way to legislate but we need to get this done in order that it is enacted well in advance of the end of December. To do that, I believe we need to conclude it this week. The number of amendments we had in the Dáil are an indication that parties do not have a huge problem with the Bill. There were very few amendments and I suspect it will be the same on Thursday.

I again thank Senators. I will not be here on Thursday, but my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, will be here for Committee and Report Stages. He is very familiar with the sections, so there should not be a problem.