Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will continue to pursue the matter of EU immigration and family unification rights for Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland with the UK Government to ensure the same rights remain in place when the UK-EU settlement scheme ends in June 2021 in view of the successful outcome of a case by a person (details supplied). [8066/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government welcomes the announcement by the British Government on changes to immigration rules for the individuals concerned, and others like them. This announcement - implementing a commitment by the British Government at the time of the New Decade New Approach agreement in January - is important progress and it is happening because of this individual's tireless campaign, which has come at considerable personal expense.

The people of Northern Ireland should never need to affirm or renounce British or Irish citizenship in order to access an entitlement based on the other – which is what the individual in question was asked to do.

The Citizenship and Identity provisions are central to the Good Friday Agreement and it is vital that they are upheld, and that the people of Northern Ireland can have full confidence in them. The Government has consistently engaged with the British Government in support of this, and we will continue to do so. Those provisions of course put obligations on both the British and Irish Governments.

We will continue to work, with the British Government, to enhance confidence in the effectiveness of these important provisions of the Good Friday Agreement.

Brexit has raised particular concerns for people in Northern Ireland on whether citizenship could create differential entitlements. The EU rights of Irish and therefore EU citizens from Northern Ireland are specifically addressed in the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Protocol confirms that Irish citizens in Northern Ireland, “will continue to enjoy, exercise and have access to rights, opportunities and benefits” that come with EU citizenship. Irish citizens will continue to have EU citizenship wherever they live. They will continue to enjoy the right to travel and live and work anywhere in the EU and the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of nationality.

In March, the Joint Committee of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission published a paper on ‘Continuing EU Citizenship Rights, Opportunities and Benefits in Northern Ireland after Brexit’.

That paper is a valuable contribution and the Government is giving careful consideration to it and the Joint Committee’s views, as we would hope the British Government will do. In addition to the proposals in that paper, there may also be other options to consider on enhancing confidence in the effectiveness of these important provisions of the Good Friday Agreement.

Both Governments have committed to addressing issues relating to the Citizenship provisions of the Good Friday Agreement through the framework of the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference. The BIIGC is an important forum for taking these issues forward, and we will do so, informed by the Joint Committee's paper. Ireland will also play its role as an EU Member State in relation to the implementation of the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.