Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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323. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on his engagements with the British Government to ensure that persons travelling across Ireland will not be subject to visa requirements as a result of UK Nationality and Borders Act. [57392/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The UK Nationality and Borders Act provides for the establishment of a scheme under which non-Irish and non-British citizens would need to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before travelling to the UK. Full details of how the scheme will be implemented still need to be set out through secondary legislation. However, we are deeply concerned at the potential impact of the scheme on non-Irish residents of Ireland and visitors who wish to travel from South to North.

The proposed ETA scheme will not apply to Irish or British citizens. The British Government has also confirmed that there will continue to be no immigration checks on the land border on the island of Ireland. However, the introduction of an ETA scheme could threaten the fluid nature of movement on the island and North-South cooperation under the Good Friday Agreement, including tourism and cross border health service provision.

Since late 2021, the Government has engaged actively with the UK on this issue. I raised our concerns at British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference meetings in both March and October. Minister McEntee also wrote to the previous UK Home Secretary to highlight our concerns. Officials from both our departments are in ongoing contact with UK counterparts on the issue.

I welcome the fact that in recent months the Home Office has shown increased awareness of the potential negative impacts of the scheme in the context of Northern Ireland. We hope that significant exemptions to the scheme can soon be agreed.

With reference to the Deputy’s question, I also note that under established British law and current Irish immigration law, restrictions apply to travel between Ireland and Northern Ireland for persons who are visa required in the respective jurisdictions.