Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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95. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress made to date in Brexit talks in ensuring that there will be no diminution in the working or potential of the Good Friday Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52291/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government is determined to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts is fully protected and respected in the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and this has been a headline priority since the UK referendum result. As co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, the Government has a solemn responsibility to protect the Agreement, in all its parts, and the gains of the Peace Process. I am very conscious of the enormous benefit which the Agreement has brought to people and communities within Northern Ireland, across the island of Ireland and in Britain. The British Government has likewise confirmed its commitment to upholding the Good Friday Agreement, including in Prime Minister May’s Article 50 notification to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, in March. The Government’s programme of engagement with EU partners over the last eighteen months and more has ensured that Ireland’s unique issues and concerns - including the protection of the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts - have been fully understood by the EU27 and have been reflected in the EU Negotiating Guidelines and Directives for the Article 50 process. The support and solidarity of our EU partners for the unique challenges facing the island of Ireland has been strong and consistent throughout the Article 50 process.

The Guiding Principles for the Dialogue on Ireland/Northern Ireland, published by the European Commission Article 50 Task force in September, form the basis for the EU’s engagement with the United Kingdom in the Article 50 negotiations on the shared objective of protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and protecting the gains and benefits of the Peace Process.

The Guiding Principles affirm that, as an essential element of the withdrawal process, there needs to be a political commitment to protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, protecting the gains of the peace process and the practical application of this to the island of Ireland. A number of principles guiding this approach are set out, specifically that:

the interlocking political institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement will need to continue to operate effectively;

the avoidance of a hard border on the island of Ireland is central to protecting the gains of the Peace Process underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement;

North South cooperation is a central part of the Good Friday Agreement and should be protected across all of the relevant sectors;

with reference to the Good Friday Agreement provisions on Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity, the United Kingdom should ensure that no diminution of rights is caused by the departure from the European Union, including the area of protection against forms of discrimination currently enshrined in Union law;

full account should be taken of the fact that Irish citizens residing in Northern Ireland will continue to enjoy rights as EU citizens;

in relation to Union support to the Peace Process including through programmes such as PEACE and INTERREG, the United Kingdom and the Union need to honour their commitment under the current Multi-annual Financial Framework and examine how to ensure implementation in line with applicable European Union rules.

The Guiding Principles also affirm the importance of the continued operation of the Common Travel Area to facilitating the mobility of people between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain and also between North and South. The CTA also underpins the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, in particular the citizenship and identity provisions, including by enabling people of Irish identity not to have to assert British citizenship in Northern Ireland in order to enjoy their rights.

While the Government is disappointed that there wasn’t a full agreement reached on Monday between President Juncker and Prime Minister May, negotiations will continue and I hope that agreement can be found in time for the European Council on 14 and 15 December next.

The Government is working hard, as part of the EU27, to ensure that the UK’s exit from the EU does not in any way undermine the peace process and ensure that we preserve the effectively invisible border on the island of Ireland. The negotiations in the last number of months and the intensive discussions over the last number of days have seen a good political understanding develop on all sides of what will be required to achieve our shared objectives. We will continue to work closely with the Task Force and the UK Government in the coming days.

As the negotiations continue into the future, the Government will continue to pursue, with our EU partners, an outcome to the Article 50 process that protects our headline priorities and Ireland’s fundamental interests, including to ensure protection of and respect for the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts.