Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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471. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on an EU Commission memo in relation to the trading of agri food products on an all Ireland basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42809/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I assume the Deputy is referring to a report, contained in an RTE news bulletin last week, relating to the trade of agri-food products on an all-Ireland basis. The news item referred to a leaked internal Commission document, dating back to last February, which referred to the possibility of agri-food trade being carried out on an all-Ireland basis after Brexit.

The document in question has no official status, and I think should be seen as an internal exploration at that time of possible ideas for dealing with the very serious issues facing the island of Ireland as a result of the UK decision to leave the EU.

The situation has moved on considerably since then.  In the interim, the UK has published papers on both the Northern Ireland/Ireland issue and the Future Customs Arrangements, while the Commission has published its paper on Guiding Principles for the Dialogue on Ireland/Northern Ireland.  The Commission document states, inter alia, that “the onus to propose solutions which overcome the challenges created on the island of Ireland by the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union and its decision to leave the customs union and the internal market remains on the United Kingdom”. This is in keeping with the Government's approach to the matter.

My Department's continued priority for the agri-food sector is to ensure that the EU-UK relationship post-Brexit remains as close to current arrangements as possible, with continued free access to the UK market, without tariffs and with minimal additional customs and administrative procedures.