Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend the members of the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on their report. Like Senator McGreehan, I was not a member of the committee, but I recognise it is a very valuable report and I thank the members of the committee for it.

I agree with others' comments about how when we work collaboratively North-South and east-west, it enriches the work we do. We see it on the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement where MPs attend on a regular basis - I wish there were more of them. Their insights enrich the quality of the dialogue and therefore the outputs.It strikes me that we are talking about the need for certainty and stability. That is what we want. Unfortunately, the DUP has today once again threatened to bring down power sharing because of the protocol. It is incredibly regrettable that power sharing is used as a negotiation tactic. The Prime Minister has accused the EU of implementing the protocol in an insane way. I do not know what is insane about working tirelessly for several years to come up with an agreement and then implementing it. I commend the EU and I commend the Minister for his flexibility and dedication. Maroš Šefovi stated that he is not setting deadlines but the Minister has rightly pointed out the sensitivity of the forthcoming elections and the polarisation of this issue. I commend him for that. There were interesting polls in that regard at the weekend.

I thank the committee for the report and I thank the Minister for always being available to this House, as other Members have recognised. This has been our first opportunity to engage with him since the appointment of Liz Truss as the chief Brexit negotiator for the UK. She has said she will not sign up to checks on goods moving within the UK. Jeffrey Donaldson has said that checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is at the heart of DUP opposition to the protocol and that it is the basis of his call to protect Northern Ireland's place within the UK internal market. I know the Minister has had meetings. I would love for him to give us an update on the kind of solutions we could be looking at in that regard. If he cannot get into those details, I ask him to outline the spectrum of specific solutions. I have been asked whether labelling is in there.

Of course, protecting goods on the island of Ireland and the all-Ireland economy is of great importance. I am running out of time already. The rules of origin are complicated in any trade agreement, never mind on this island. I acknowledge the report states that any products produced on the north, south, east or west of our island should qualify for 0% tariffs in both the UK and EU negotiated deals. That is in the spirit of the dual market access agreement and the all-island economy. I welcome the text of the UK-Australia free trade agreement, FTA, published in December, that allowed for some Irish whiskey to be included, although it was limited. I ask the Minister to ensure the same is applied in future FTAs between the EU and Australia, as well as other FTAs. I have 30 seconds left.

Having recently met the Derry Chamber of Commerce and having been in contact with businesses in the North, I know the protocol is not the issue. For the vast majority of voters, it is not the issue. Rather, it is health, education and housing about which people are most concerned. They do recognise the opportunities, however. I wish to focus on the importance of that. This is an opportunity for us to talk about the politics of prosperity rather than the politics of identity.

Within that, an issue arose with the Derry Chamber of Commerce. It is not exactly within the remit of the Minister but it is relevant because he fought for the provisions of the common travel area, CTA, to be protected within the Brexit negotiations and that affects people's day-to-day lives. The issue in question is a taxation issue. With restrictions being lifted and people going back to work, there are residents in the South of Ireland who work in the North and wish to work from home but will be subject to double taxation if the waiver is not lifted. I am asking the Minister to help the Cross-Border Workers Coalition. I am not alone in this room in terms of people who have advocated on its behalf. It has come up with solutions and I ask the Minister to be a voice for those workers and the everyday opportunities for people and their quality of life.