David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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222. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to set out the 142 areas of North-South co-operation that his Department is working on in the context of Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49866/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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North South cooperation brings very tangible benefits to the daily lives of people and, in particular, to those living in the border regions where it contributes to improving economic opportunity and development. It is also a very practical outworking of the peace process which allows for the normalisation of relationships between people across the island, to our mutual benefit. North South cooperation between Ireland and Northern Ireland is one of the central elements of the Good Friday Agreement. The EU Taskforce’s Guiding Principles for the Dialogue on Ireland/Northern Ireland indicated that it is “necessary for the European Union and the United Kingdom to examine whether, and if so how, the fact that European Union law ceases to apply in the United Kingdom after withdrawal might impact on continued cooperation and whether specific provisions need to be inserted in the Withdrawal Agreement”. Officials have been carrying out detailed work over the last few weeks to map out areas of cooperation that operate on a North South basis on the island of Ireland and which rely on EU law and policies. Over the course of this exercise, an extensive range of North South cooperation was identified, covering areas under the formal North South Ministerial Council work programmes and other areas of cooperation that have developed since the Peace Process.

There is still more work to be done in this area, but the exercise has underlined the need to avoid risks presented by any regulatory divergence from the rules of the EU Single Market and Customs Union. North South cooperation has made an important contribution through the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement to the improvement of people's lives on this island. We want to ensure that this cooperation can continue in a meaningful way.

The UK has a responsibility to ensure that it does not hinder or impede the continuation and development of North South cooperation by its withdrawal from the EU. Avoiding a hard border is only one element of this.