Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House, particularly as he has an extremely busy schedule at the moment. We appreciate him giving of his time to come here to discuss this important and evolving issue that will affect this country for generations to come.

As the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU said earlier, we had a very useful engagement with the European Commission Vice-President Šefovi on Monday and it was interesting just to engage with him. I asked him whether the European Commission had developed a strategy if Northern Ireland triggers Article 16 because we must be ready for all eventualities. I am interested in hearing the observations of the Minister on the readiness of Europe if Article 16 is triggered. Obviously we all hope Article 16 is not triggered. We all stand in solidarity with the efforts the Minister, his officials and, indeed, the European Commission are putting in to make sure this does not happen.

I very much welcome the mood change on the part the United Kingdom in recent weeks, especially from Mr. Frost because certainly the utterances were very pointed, provocative and unhelpful. I hope we are moving into somewhat calmer waters, which is what are needed if a deal is going to be delivered, because the consequences are fairly striking. Yesterday, I spoke to an ophthalmologist who operates in Temple Street children's hospital.She specialises in prosthetic eyes for children. No operator in this country makes these types of plastic eyes. There are some arrangements with the UK National Health Service in Belfast, but many of these eyes are delivered from a private operator in Wales. What happens is Temple Street hospital purchases the prosthetic eyes and would normally receive delivery in two or three days, but a child in Limerick has been waiting for one of these eyes since 21 October. The item has been caught up in customs since that date. There are consequences, therefore, for where we find ourselves and they impact greatly on people's lives in a range of areas.

Colleagues have spoken about trade and various other aspects, but I am interested in the Minister's reflections on the area of medicine and medical care, one issue we should be able to resolve. I hope solutions can be found for the team at Temple Street hospital, who find themselves in very difficult circumstances, not least when they must try to explain to the parents of a small child that there is nothing the hospital can do because the item has been held up in customs. These are real-life scenarios and I acknowledge the Minister is fully aware of them. The effort he is making reflects how concerned he is and how much he knows about the consequences there will be if this does not work out the way all of us want it to. I imagine most people in the UK want that as well but there seem to be difficulties at leadership level, which is regrettable. I hope that will sort itself out.