Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank him for his considerable work on Brexit and on behalf of the Irish people. As the Minister confirmed, this Bill involves up to 11 different Departments. The purpose of the Bill is, of course, to address the many issues that will arise out of Brexit and to do our best, with all our abilities, to try to negate any harm a Brexit deal or, indeed, no deal will do to this country.

As outlined by my Labour Party colleagues when this Bill came before the Dáil, there are two basic principles that will continue post Brexit and these are underscored in every aspect of this legislation. The first is the maintenance and continuation of what is known as the common travel area, which has been a feature of relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom since the inception of Ireland as an independent country. Of course, the term “common travel area” has so much more importance to our relationship with our nearest neighbours than first inspection of this commonly-used phrase might seem to suggest. It involves so much more interaction, including the rights to housing and health access, and even the right to vote between our two countries. It has, I am sure, been a difficult road to incorporate long-standing agreements and relationships into legislation but we feel it has been completed in a positive way that will observe our many obligations to our EU partners and our fellow EU citizens, while, we hope, maintaining that strong relationship that is the common travel area, and our important relationship with our nearest neighbours.

The second principle is the issue of North-South co-operation, which is fundamental to us all. It was built upon the principles of the Good Friday Agreement, which must be the cornerstone of our approach to any agreement with the United Kingdom and how we continue to interact with one another, politically, economically and socially.

As has been said in this debate, it is important to acknowledge the support we have received from our European partners in offering protection and supporting this agreement. It may have seemed apparent to some, particularly those in the UK, as I said previously in debate in this House, that we would not receive this support, but it has allowed us to formulate a very strong negotiating position. It is also important at this point to acknowledge the support we have received from the United States, in particular the continued recent support of the President-elect, Joe Biden.

I want to acknowledge the Minister's acknowledgement of the review of the VAT retail export scheme that he announced today and which Deputy Howlin had brought before him in the Dáil. It is an amendment we have proposed for the next Stage of the Bill in the Seanad. I look forward to the Government accepting that amendment, which proposes that we would have a review of this scheme. Notwithstanding that amendment, like my Labour Party colleagues in the Dáil, I want to raise the proposed provision in the Bill put forward by the Department of Finance.

The Department of Finance has proposed to amend section 58 of the Finance Act 2010 by including a new section, section 64, on page 42 of the Bill before the House. We feel this is totally unnecessary and it would have an extremely negative effect on an already under-pressure industry. Following amendments by the Government, this section would raise the minimum expenditure required to qualify for the VAT retail export scheme — that is, tax free shopping — from €0, which is the current figure, to €75, with the Government having initially proposed €175. This means that to qualify for the tax-free rebate as a tourist, one has to spend at least €75. This will have the greatest impact on small retailers and those that are currently enduring the greatest hardship under the Covid pandemic restrictions. Small shops and jewellery stores selling Irish jewellery, Irish knitwear and crafts and other Irish products and souvenirs will be the worst hit. After the enactment of this legislation as now proposed, the minimum requirement will be that tourists who wish to qualify under the scheme will have to spend €75 in these shops. Recent analysis shows that will exclude 50% of current expenditure in them. It would be disastrous for them. I again ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Finance to examine this proposal. The ending of tax-free shopping at a time when we are looking for every incentive and assistance to be given to the small and medium-sized traders who need it most is unacceptable and unbelievable. I wanted to raise that with the Minister and, as I said, we will be coming back to it on Thursday of this week on the next stage of the Bill.

Following recent conversations with PDFORRA, I also wish to raise a very important matter that has been raised by other colleagues today in regard to the cross-border health directive. I am sure the Minister is aware, as we all are, of the benefits of this scheme to many citizens but this scheme has had a major benefit for those serving in the Defence Forces. The PDFORRA medical assistance scheme, known locally as PMAS, was set up by PDFORRA in 2018 due to continued lack of investment and withdrawal of the medical services available to members of the Defence Forces. PDFORRA set up a separate company, which operates the scheme using the cross-border directive to provide medical treatment to members of PDFORRA for a subscription of €1 per week. To date, PDFORRA has invested €150,000 into the scheme to support injured members. Since 2018, the PDFORRA company has sent nearly 200 members to Kingsbridge Hospital, Belfast, for treatment, with more than 100 of those going on to surgery. This has had a twofold benefit of, first, removing members of the Defence Forces in the scheme from the public waiting lists and, second, allowing serving members to return to work quickly, thereby assisting the Defence Forces in regard to retention, allowing for overseas service and promotion.

The impact of Covid has created a waiting list of a further 100 members who are awaiting referral. With Brexit looming and no clarity yet about retention of the EU cross-border health directive in Northern Ireland, this places the PMAS scheme in jeopardy, as any future cross-border treatment scheme will need to be performed on mainland Europe. It is, of course, the question of the time involved, the language barrier and travel post surgery that makes the benefits of the EU cross-border directive much more attractive in Northern Ireland than travel to other EU countries for the treatment that will remain post Brexit.

To be fair, the Minister has continually raised this important directive but, given the experience of PDFORRA and the benefits of the directive for the Defence Forces and many other citizens, I ask the Minister to ensure that this directive remains in any post-Brexit agreement. I would also like to raise again the important role the Defence Forces, and the Naval Service in particular, will have in protecting us in any post-Brexit scenario. We have all read the articles in newspapers in recent weeks about a retention crisis and a continuing manpower crisis in the Naval Service, resulting in a number of ships being delayed in putting to sea because of a shortage of specialist crew members.

As an island nation that is now standing without the back-up of the EU membership of our nearest neighbour, I am sure the Minister will agree this cannot continue. From a fisheries protection point of view, we recently learned that our Naval Service carried out 1,000 patrol days in 2018 and 2019. This has fallen to under 600 in 2020. We simply cannot afford any loss of days. This would seem to be a worrying figure, given the importance of our fishing industry in negotiations, as other Members have said. I am sure the Naval Service will have an enhanced role in the new year, protecting our waters from a number of threats. We must address the continued exit of personnel from the Naval Service, the importance of the job performed by the Naval Service means there must be urgent intervention on behalf of the Government. The important and additional roles that the Naval Service and the Defence Forces in general will be expected to carry out post Brexit must continue to be urgently considered by the Government.

As a member of the Seanad Special Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, I look forward to working with Senator Chambers over the coming weeks. I also look forward to the debate here today and later on in the week. Unfortunately, this Bill is a result of the UK's exit from the EU. We have to make provisions for that and make sure we try to ready ourselves and those who will be most affected as best as possible.