Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Coveney. It is a multifaceted issue. This has the potential to impact on a range of aspects of people’s lives. I think of the healthcare sector, for example, and the range of non-Irish and non-British citizens who work in it. What will happen if someone living in Donegal who crosses the Border to go to work in Altnagelvin has a car accident and is asked by the PSNI to produce this particular visa? Will he or she be deported?

What will happen when we promote Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement internationally as a single unit for tourism? Are we going to tell the thousands of tourists we want to attract to this island to enjoy the benefits of it that they are going to need to apply for a travel waiver for a particular section of it? It is crazy. The proposed change has implications right across society and Irish life. While I find the nature, approach and intent of the legislation going through Westminster repugnant in terms of what it seeks to do to migrants and refugees, we must be acutely aware of the direct implications for the outworking of this on life in Ireland.I am encouraged to hear that the Government is engaging but we need to be very vocal. We need to bring political clout to bear and ensure that the British Government hears that message on the world stage. We all have an obligation as Irish and EU citizens to ensure that our fellow EU citizens and, indeed, others, are not disproportionately disadvantaged as a result of a decision we did not take.