Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader.

I rise this morning to raise three specific issues, the first of which is the reporting that the British Government is bringing through new legislation around immigration laws that will require non-Irish EU citizens resident in Ireland to provide an electronic travel authorisation to cross from Ireland into Northern Ireland. It is not quite clear how this will be enforceable. That is the first question. This legislation has gone through the House of Commons, however, and is now making its way to the House of Lords. We expect that it could become law in the UK.

I note the comments of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Minister that the common travel area, as we know, covers British and Irish citizens resident in Ireland and the UK in order that we can travel, work and live freely across both islands. It does not cover non-Irish citizens, however. A person could be from France, Portugal or any of the other EU states and live here in Ireland, perhaps for many years. A person could be living in the Border area, as many people are; crossing back and forth for education or work and business purposes and just living their day-to-day lives. It is not quite clear, therefore, how this will work in operation. We need to get an update from the Minister for Foreign Affairs as to how the Irish Government proposes to deal with this legislation, should it become law, and how we can ensure that non-Irish EU citizens who are living in Ireland can continue to enjoy the same freedoms they have always enjoyed in terms of movement right across the island.

The second issue I wish to raise is to welcome the announcement this morning by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, of €2.6 million for Town Centre First plans. Some 26 towns were identified across the country, one in each county. Each town will get €100,000 to develop its own unique master plan for the town to reinvigorate the town centre. This is really important for small rural towns. Killala in north County Mayo has been identified, which is really welcome. It is a fantastic town with so much history. It is a beautiful medieval town with a round tower overlooking Killala Bay out into the sea. This €100,000 that has been allocated to the local authority will be used to work with the town team and stakeholders in the town to develop that unique master plan for the town centre of Killala.

Finally, in the few minutes I have left, I welcome this week the announcement by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, of the new childcare scheme. I will not give its full title because it is quite a mouthful but it is a significant investment and a turning point in how we deal with childcare in this country. It will see more than €200 million invested in childcare by the State. We are looking at more State involvement in the provision of childcare, which is really where we want to get to but obviously, working with private providers, because without them we would not have any childcare services in the country. We know that for many families it is a second mortgage, however. Sometimes it is more expensive than a mortgage. It is a barrier predominantly for women getting back into the workforce because many women will say they cannot afford to get back to work. Perhaps in the new term, we might invite the Minister to the House for a debate in which he can give us more detail on his plan, how he plans to implement it and the delivery timescale for this investment by the State in childcare.