Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

63. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the North-South Ministerial Council and its role in scoping out the implications of Brexit; and if this will be the sole vehicle for discussing joint principles. [8772/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Good progress has been made through the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) on scoping out the sectorial implications of Brexit for Ireland, North and South, and in agreeing joint principles for moving forward. In the aftermath of the referendum in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016, there was a Plenary meeting of the North South Ministerial Council on 4 July 2016 in Dublin Castle. At that meeting the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed to work closely together to optimise North South planning in the phases preceding and following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. It was also agreed that full sectorial audits would be carried out by Departments North and South to identify the possible impacts, risks, opportunities and contingencies which may arise following the UK’s withdrawal. At the subsequent NSMC Plenary meeting on 18 November 2016 in Armagh the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed on a number of important common principles for dealing with Brexit on an all-island basis.

It was also agreed that this work would be taken forward through continuing bilateral discussions within the NSMC at sectorial level, as well as through a high-level working group comprising senior officials from the Government and from the Northern Ireland Executive Office.

The Government remains engaged with the political parties in Northern Ireland and I would hope that the new Northern Ireland Executive will be in place soon after the Assembly election on 2 March and that dates for the next NSMC Plenary meeting will be agreed as soon as possible thereafter.

The Executive is responsible for politically representing Northern Ireland’s interests, including in relation to the upcoming EU-UK negotiations. With those negotiations expected to begin shortly, it is essential that Ministerial engagement through the NSMC recommences at the earliest possible opportunity.

While the common principles for dealing with Brexit on an all-island basis have been agreed by the North South Ministerial Council it is one of a number of fora, alongside the British Irish Council and the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly, within which it is possible to discuss with our colleagues from Northern Ireland the implications of Brexit. In addition, the issue has been discussed and will continue to be discussed in bilateral contacts with the Northern Ireland Executive and political parties, as well as in the range of inter-governmental contacts between Dublin and London.

It is the Government’s intention to maintain those close contacts in the period ahead using all appropriate channels both formal and informal.