Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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162. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a reply will issue to the concerns of a person (details supplied) regarding cross-Border workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1240/19]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The focus of my Department, and of this Government, continues to be on securing ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement. This is the best way to ensure that the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU are maintained post Brexit. This includes the rights of frontier workers.

The Government is acutely conscious of the concerns of border communities and of cross-border workers as a result of Brexit.

The continuation of the Common Travel Area (CTA) is also important in that context.

The Common Travel Area is a long-standing arrangement between Ireland and the UK which means Irish citizens can move freely to live, work, and study in the UK on the same basis as UK citizens and vice versa. It is an arrangement that is valued on both islands and the continuation of this arrangement is a stated commitment of both the Irish and UK Governments. In the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, it is important that any arrangements necessary to maintain the Common Travel Area are made.

The Common Travel Area provides for associated rights and entitlements which enable Irish and UK citizens to move freely between and reside in both jurisdictions. These rights and entitlements include access to employment, healthcare, education, and social benefits, as well as the right to vote in certain elections. The CTA pre-dates Irish and UK membership of the EU and is not dependent on it. It is recognised in Protocol 20 to the EU Treaties and is also acknowledged in the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland to the Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU which was endorsed by the European Council and the UK Government on 25 November 2018.

The maintenance of the CTA is a bilateral matter. Work is at an advanced stage both with the UK and domestically to ensure that the necessary provisions are made in both jurisdictions so that the CTA continues to function effectively after the UK leaves the EU.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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163. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the plans contained within the document on preparing for withdrawal of the the United Kingdom from the European Union are contingent on a hard Brexit or if these plans will be proceeded with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1245/19]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government's contingency planning and preparedness for Brexit was initiated well in advance of the UK referendum in June 2016 and since my appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in June 2017 I have overseen a sustained intensification of these efforts.

At its meeting of 11 December the Government agreed, that while work on Brexit preparedness for the central case scenario should continue, in light of ongoing political uncertainties and the Brexit deadline of 29 March 2019, greater immediate priority must now be give to preparations for a no deal Brexit.

Following this, the Government published its Brexit Contingency Action Plan on 19 December 2018 which sets out the analysis of a no deal Brexit and detailed sectoral analyses and approaches to mitigating the impacts of a no deal Brexit. The shift to preparing for a no deal Brexit requires the acceleration of certain measures already identified and underway, the putting in place of possible temporary solutions which can be rapidly implemented and potential crisis response measures.

Accordingly a number of the actions identified in a no deal scenario will still be required even in a central case scenario, including the Withdrawal Agreement with a transition period and the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland and the political declaration on the future relationship, but with a longer timeframe for implementation.

A no deal Brexit would be highly disruptive and would have profound political, economic and legal implications for Ireland, the rest of the EU and, most significantly, for the UK itself. It is not the outcome we want and our focus continues to be on securing ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.