Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Sinn Féin team for bringing forward this motion. I support its spirit. I am aware things have moved on.

I thank the Minister for outlining the updates, not only regarding the UK Borders and Nationalities Act but also recent developments around the protocol, the election and legacy.

The imposition of an electronic travel authorisation scheme on non-Irish and non-British citizens entering Northern Ireland across the Border is entirely out of touch with the practicalities and sensitivities of life on this island.Unfortunately, it reflects a lack of awareness and a willingness to work with us on the practicalities and sensitivities of life on the island. It affects cross-Border workers, education, access to everyday services, essential healthcare, economic drivers such as tourism and of course our integrated supply chains. It brings more questions than answers in terms of the information that we have. It disrupts day-to-day family life. I want to acknowledge the people here who have travelled this evening to hear the motion. Fifty years on since joining the EU, Ireland is home to citizens of all EU countries and beyond. According to the Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance, NITA, 9% of the population are legally resident but are not Irish or British citizens. This will have a huge impact on those people. We are already dealing with the fallout of Northern Ireland, as part of the UK, leaving the EU; the logistical impact that is having on the movement of goods and the integrity of the Single Market; and the threat of a hard border. Now we are dealing with visa requirements through an electronic authorisation on non-Irish and non-British citizens who need and want to cross the Border just to live their lives or earn their livelihoods. The biggest emotional issue is that it reimposes a border. It imposes barriers where we have had fluidity. It reinforces difference when we have worked so hard to build cohesion. It takes us backwards into the language of the past. The psychological and administrative barrier through this electronic authorisation is incredibly damaging. It undermines all-island projects. For example, the work we do on healthcare is undermined by this, as is tourism and our cross-Border bodies such as Waterways Ireland and Tourism Ireland. I worked in tourism for years, in marketing for Fáilte Ireland, which worked for Tourism Ireland. I know the efforts that go into creating a marketing campaign that targets the entire island. About €1 billion has been spent on doing that. Now this undermines that work.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw how confusing it was to have two sets of guidelines for Covid-19 on the island. People were coming into and out of different airports and wondering what guidelines applied to them. This is another example of more disruption and more difference. It would be very difficult for tourism to operate within that environment, especially coming out of Covid-19 when tourism has taken such a beating. How do we tell people they need authorisation to cross something that is not there and that we have put all our efforts into ensuring that it is not there? I found the NITA briefing very helpful. The £1 billion tourism industry in the North is under threat from this. Questions arise such as whether there will be single-entry or will people require multiple-entry whenever we have 300 crossings; the costs that will be attached; the issues already mentioned in regard to the EU identity card and the fact that a passport is needed for this and all the non-Irish EU nationals working in tourism. We know, and it was said in the brief, that hassle and expense are key deterrents when people choose a holiday destination. Ireland as a whole will be impacted by this, when people are planning trips, never mind their fears about whether there is a threat of prosecution if they are not seen to be co-operating. These are all things that will play on people’s minds. Research by NITA reports that 25% of people from outside the common travel area would see it as a barrier to travelling north. When combined with the home holiday market, with the exception of residents who should be all right, that would be a combined impact of 15%. Derry and the north-west and Donegal would be severely impacted by this. I welcome the exemptions for which the Minister has been working hard. We need to work towards an exemption for tourism as well. I know that NITA has put forward one suggestion that the ETA could be introduced when people are arriving by boat or through the airports but not on the island of Ireland. Those are things to consider. I am aware of everything the Minister has been doing. I want to thank Margaret Ritchie in the House of Lords who put forward the original amendment and of course such people as Stephen Farry, Colum Eastwood and Claire Hanna, who are raising this issue in the House of Commons.