Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Sinn Féin Senators for tabling a motion on the British Government's new Nationality and Borders Act. The Act's provisions for an ETA scheme raise a number of serious concerns and merit further political consideration in the Seanad. The Government will not oppose this motion as it raises concerns that we share, but it does not reflect a number of important developments since it was first tabled that need to be taken into account.I am pleased to be able to address those issues here with Members today.

I will first discuss the ETA scheme. The British Government's Nationality and Borders Act provides that the UK's immigration rules may require that non-Irish and non-British citizens obtain an ETA before travelling to the UK, including for journeys across the land Border with Northern Ireland. The British Government has stated that there will continue to be no immigration checks on the land Border. However, the introduction of an ETA scheme for cross-Border journeys could cause considerable disruption to the lives and livelihoods of many people across the island. This is a matter of serious concern for the Government and I can ensure Members that we have let our views be known in London.

Tens of thousands of people cross the Border every day in the course of their ordinary lives, including to access essential services, for business, for family reasons, or for travel from one part of Ireland to another. It is a uniquely shared space. This is something that both the Irish and British Governments recognised and committed to supporting in strand two of the Good Friday Agreement.

From an early stage, the Government engaged with the British Government at both official and political level to highlight the complexities such an ETA scheme presents in the context of Northern Ireland and the serious implications it would have for daily lives and livelihoods on the island. Late last year and again in January this year, our ambassador in London wrote to the British Home Office outlining our concerns and the significant impacts the proposed scheme would have. I wrote to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in February and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, met the Minister, Kevin Foster, later that month in London to address directly the challenges regarding the UK's ETA proposals. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, also wrote to her British counterpart, the British Home Secretary.

At the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference, BIIGC, in March, I raised the ETA proposals once again with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Government has continued to engage closely with the British Home Office and the Northern Ireland Office on the ETA proposals. In statements made on 20 April, the UK Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, Kevin Foster, acknowledged the potential impact of ETA requirements on the day-to-day lives of those who cross the Border on a regular basis and expressed willingness to have a "detailed and constructive" engagement with the Irish Government on this issue. While the UK's draft UK Nationality and Borders Bill received royal assent in the UK and became an Act of Parliament on 28 April, this does not mean that the arrangements for the proposed ETA scheme are finalised as a number of things can be done by way of exemptions through secondary legislation. The Government will continue to engage at both official and political level with our British Government counterparts to encourage the British Government to reconsider its approach and to apply exemptions to their ETA proposals.

The kinds of exemptions on which we are getting traction are that all residents in Ireland would not have to apply for an ETA and would, in other words, benefit from an exemption. That does not, of course, deal with tourists who are visiting or people who are here temporarily who would normally, in many instances, travel into an airport like Dublin, hire a car, travel to Belfast for a day, and go across to Donegal. Movement around the island as a whole is something that many of our visitors just take for granted and this will be a completely unnecessary disruption to that movement.

I believe it will be Northern Ireland that will suffer the most in the context of the impact it will have on all-island tourism, if I can put it that way. We market this island on an all-island basis from a tourism perspective and there are many fascinating reasons to visit Northern Ireland. While people will still continue to visit Northern Ireland, there will be more disruption involved, potentially, in doing that and more cost. If one looks at how the tourism industry works with bookings, travel companies, and so on, a reduction of cost is an issue and that this is going to disadvantage Northern Ireland in a way that is completely unnecessary.

We will continue to work with the British Government to try to win those arguments but the main focus in the short term will be to ensure that people who are resident south of the Border are not required to apply for an ETA and to have that cost and disruption in their day-to-day lives. None of this, to be honest, is good. It is not justifiable from a security point of view but it is, unfortunately, something where sensible amendments were rejected. These were the amendments which came initially from the House of Lords and this Bill is now passed and is an Act. We are now, therefore, relying on secondary legislation but we will work as closely as we can with the British Government to try to get that accommodation.

This is an opportunity for me to update this House on the Northern Ireland institutions and on some of the other issues that are going on. The distinct challenges presented by the ETA to Northern Ireland, underline the importance of Northern Irish voices being heard. This is best done through the devolved institutions in Stormont. Following last week's Assembly elections, we are now in a period of Executive formation. The challenges that we face are too great for Northern Ireland to be left without a strong voice and with a functioning Executive and Assembly. This is what the people of Northern Ireland both expect, deserve and voted for. It is for the parties now to come together to establish an Executive that can deliver for all of the people of Northern Ireland.

Earlier today I met senior figures in Sinn Féin, the UUP, the SDLP, and the Alliance Party. I have also spoken in some detail with Jeffrey Donaldson as leader of the DUP, separately, in a phone call. In each discussion, I emphasised the importance the Irish Government attaches to the quick formation of an Executive. One of the things that I have learned in the context of the politics in Northern Ireland is that things do not get any easier over time.

I want to give my word to the House that whatever challenges we will face in the period ahead, I will continue to work in support of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and in preserving and building upon the successes of the peace process. We have to remind ourselves sometimes here of the success of almost 25 years of an extraordinary peace process on this island that has delivered, by and large, an imperfect peace but, nevertheless, a peace and prosperity on the back of that which many people simply thought was impossible before it was done. Many other countries in the world use what Ireland has achieved as a template to inspire their own political decisions. We have, therefore, a challenge to protect the institutions of that peace agreement from political pressures and disruption, some of which have been linked to Brexit and others which have been linked to other issues. There are landing grounds in respect of the need there is for compromise and policy that can allow us to do that. I will certainly be focusing on that in the days and weeks ahead.

On the issue of legacy, peace in Northern Ireland has been hard won. The Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent implementing agreements require difficult compromises from all sides. These were made on the understanding that all sides would adhere to the agreements reached. In 2014 the political parties, the British Government, and the Irish Government together signed the Stormont House Agreement, which put in place a framework to address the painful legacy of the past. The UUP was the only party in Northern Ireland which did not sign up to that agreement and it gave an explanation as to why. At Westminster, yesterday, the UK Government stated that it will prioritise the introduction of legislation that departs significantly from what we agreed together.

First and foremost, it is important to give a clear and strong message to victims and families, many of whom I know are worried by yesterday's announcements on legacy. I heard that view expressed again today in Belfast. We will continue to work to ensure that the legitimate needs of victims and survivors are at the heart of any legacy process. We have not seen a formal or detailed proposal from the British Government at this stage and so cannot give a comprehensive response at this juncture. Once that has been shared with us, I am sure we will have a detailed and broad range of questions. Beyond those questions, however, there is a broader question of process. As we have consistently said, it is essential that both Governments and the political parties have real and considered discussion on any way forward on this deeply sensitive issue that still impacts many families deeply in Northern Ireland. Victims and families must, crucially, be brought into the consideration of any way forward. Unilateral action is not the way forward and will make matters worse, not better.

On the protocol on Ireland-Northern Ireland, this is the mutually agreed solution to address the challenges faced by Northern Ireland following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. It is the result of four years of negotiations between the EU and this British Government, which involved compromises on all sides and was designed and agreed to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the peace process. We have consistently sought to engage with the perspectives of everyone in Northern Ireland in regard to the protocol, including those in the unionist community. Again, we had very good discussions today with Doug Beattie and the UUP on the legitimate concerns they have in the context of how the protocol could or should be implemented.The Vice-President, Mr. Maroš Šefovi, and the Commission have done likewise and will continue to do so. We have never dismissed genuinely held concerns around the protocol and the Commission made proposals that directly address many of those concerns as late as October last.

It is clear that the protocol is broadly supported by people and businesses in Northern Ireland, with the majority of MLAs recently elected supportive of the protocol. Some 53 of the 90 MLAs who have just been elected, if asked to vote tomorrow, would vote in favour of maintaining the protocol. That is just under 60% support. This corresponds with the clear message that I have heard first hand, including from the business groups I met this afternoon in Belfast. They want the protocol to work and to take advantage of the opportunities it presents. It presents significant economic advantages. We have seen that in the past year. Despite all the political wrangling, uncertainty and instability around the protocol, foreign direct investment and investment more generally in Northern Ireland on the back of the protocol has seen positive growth - the strongest economic growth anywhere in the United Kingdom.

Our message for the British Government is clear. Partnership and consultation are the only credible way forward. Obligations under international agreements must be performed in good faith. This is the very basis of the international legal order. The EU stands ready to talk to the UK at any time and remains fully committed to working jointly with the UK to bring long-term legal certainty and predictability to Northern Ireland. The voices of the people of Northern Ireland need to be heard through their democratically elected representatives on these issues and more. The Government will continue to work to support the implementation of, and the institutions of, the Good Friday Agreement, and all subsequent implementing agreements.

My visit today was the first in a while to Northern Ireland but I suspect I will be travelling across the Border many, many times over the coming weeks and months as we work with all parties as both Governments, and with the European Commission, to find solutions to outstanding problems so that we can support the stability, the predictability and the improved relations that are needed to ensure that the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement can deliver what they were designed to deliver.