Neale Richmond
Question:1. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit will next meet. [58578/21]
View answerWednesday, 8 December 2021
Questions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:2. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit will next meet. [60150/21]
View answer
Alan Kelly
Question:3. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit will next meet. [60117/21]
View answer
Brendan Smith
Question:4. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit will next meet. [60328/21]
View answer
Christopher O'Sullivan
Question:5. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit is meeting next. [60329/21]
View answerChristopher O'Sullivan
Question:6. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit is meeting next. [60567/21]
View answerNeale Richmond
Question:7. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with Brexit will meet next. [60573/21]
View answerOral answers (9 contributions)
I propose to take questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland was established by Government on 6 July 2020 and had its first meeting on 29 October 2020. The Cabinet committee last met on 4 March 2021 and was scheduled to meet again on Monday, 29 November, but had to be postponed due to the need for a meeting on Covid-19. A revised date has yet to be confirmed. It should be noted that relevant issues arising on Brexit and Northern Ireland are regularly considered at meetings of the full Cabinet. This week’s Cabinet meeting considered two comprehensive memoranda on North-South co-operation and on the shared island initiative. The Cabinet committee on Europe which last met on 14 October also discussed related matters. In addition to the meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I also meet with Ministers on an individual basis to focus on particular issues where required.
I ask that Deputies could limit the supplementary replies to a minute and a half so that we can get through everyone. I call Deputy Richmond.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. There are four matters I would like to raise.
Many of them follow on from yesterday's discussion on North-South relations. I would appreciate it if the Taoiseach could elaborate on what efforts the Government is making to work with industry, individuals and sectoral groups to prepare for the new Brexit checks that are due to come into place on 1 January. What is being done to continue the excellent efforts to diversify the trade routes in order that we can trade directly with our largest market, namely, the Continent? What impact is Brexit having on overall Anglo-Irish relations? Without getting into too much detail, the political climate in London is a little confusing today and there is a big fear that whatever controversy the British Government faces will lead to it using the dead-cat strategy, such as by invoking plan B on Covid or making yet another threat to trigger Article 16. I ask the Taoiseach to elaborate on the continuing efforts between himself, European partners and the British Government to ensure Article 16 is not needlessly triggered.
Data published last month by the British Office for National Statistics demonstrate the economic benefits of the protocol for the North's economy. In fact, the figures show that the North has performed better economically than Britain in tackling the challenges caused by Brexit. The data from Britain tell a very different story of the impact of Brexit on its economy. Its Office for Budgetary Responsibility has forecast that the long-term impact of Brexit on growth will be worse than that of the pandemic, with the hit to GDP likely to be twice that of Covid. As my colleagues in the North have highlighted, there is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates that the protocol is protecting the North's economy through its unique access to the EU's Single Market. The majority of businesses, people and parties in the North opposed Brexit and want to see the protocol not just working for the economy but maximised in terms of its potential. Tory threats to trigger Article 16 have also been firmly rejected by businesses and industry in Britain. The Confederation of British Industry has been categorical in its demand of Boris Johnson that his Government should not go anywhere near Article 16. Businesses in the North and Britain want the Tories to pursue a better relationship with the EU, not deepen the fallout from Brexit, which seems to be their current strategy and is supported by unionism. During the Taoiseach's recent discussions with the British Prime Minister and unionist leaders, was there a recognition of the protections the protocol has provided to the North's economy or its additional potential for the future?
News came on Monday that Ireland is to receive approximately €920 million from the EU's Brexit adjustment reserve fund, with an additional €244 million to be paid in 2025. That is very welcome but we need to ensure that EU funding goes to the traders and sectors that need it most, including those in our fishing sector, businesses dealing with Brexit challenges and, of course, agriculture and food. What plan does the Government have for this money? Can the Taoiseach provide detailed breakdowns for this year and next year? I understand that a portion of the money will go to assist the fishing sector, compensating it for loss of trade and hopefully protecting jobs. How will the public be kept up to date on this? Will there be one big announcement? Has the Government discussed the matter? Has the sub-committee met to discuss it? Can the Taoiseach give some indication of the structure for how this funding will be allocated this year and in the forthcoming years?
As we all know, the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol is part of the withdrawal agreement. I know from my interactions with businesses in neighbouring counties north of the Border that they are anxious that the protocol works and that whatever difficulties and issues there are be resolved as soon as possible, without any threats of anybody triggering Article 16. They are anxious that the Government, along with the European Union, continues to work towards resolving whatever outstanding issues there are. Professors Katy Hayward and David Phinnemore of Queens University have done excellent work over the past number of years with regard to Brexit. They recently carried out some surveys on people's attitude to the protocol in Northern Ireland. Two of the major issues of concern were the availability of medicine and the need to reduce the customs paperwork for products travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland. The Taoiseach gave us an assurance some time ago with regard to medicines that those issues would be resolved. All of us want to see that happen. I ask the Taoiseach to give us a progress report on where we are at with the medicines issue, as well as the possibility of having the customs paperwork reduced. It is a particular difficulty for smaller businesses and we want to ensure they will not continue to be impacted adversely by Brexit.
As the Taoiseach knows, Brexit had a disproportionate impact on the fishing sector. The Common Fisheries Policy review is looming. What is the Government's approach to that review in terms of addressing the burden share and quota share issue facing the Irish fleet? I understand that there will be a meeting of the European Council on 12 and 13 December, including marine and fishing ministers, to discuss quota share. Surely that is an opportune time to discuss the issue of burden sharing and the fact that the Irish fleet is not getting a fair share of the quota. It is an opportunity to highlight the inequity of our quota share in species such as hake, haddock and monkfish, which are predominantly caught in Irish waters but of which we have a tiny percentage of the quota. What is the general approach to addressing that quota share issue? I know the Taoiseach is well aware of it from visiting west Cork and meeting stakeholders.
I want to follow up on the question Deputy Connolly asked earlier. As the Taoiseach knows, Deputy Connolly and I are very strongly in favour of the vaccination programme. We think people should get their boosters and we agree about the injunction to protect life and limb. However, there are human rights considerations for the small number of people who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons or who have not yet been persuaded, sometimes because they do not really understand the issue. I just want to draw a contrast with the North of Ireland in this regard. The North is avoiding that issue of discrimination against that small group by giving people options other than the vaccination certificate, namely, testing, in order to allow them access theatres, bars, restaurants and so on. In fact, that is the case in most of Europe. The Government should consider doing that because, even though I am absolutely a believer in the vaccination campaign, that sort of divisiveness and finger-pointing at a relatively small group is not helpful. It smacks of the mandatory approach that the WHO has warned strongly against and which I think is counterproductive. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that so we can end that sort of divisive situation.
I thank all the Deputies for raising these matters. Deputy Richmond raised issues around the protocol and Brexit. All efforts are continuing to be made in terms of preparation. To be fair to the Government, and the previous Government, Ireland has prepared well for Brexit compared to what is happening in the UK. That seems to be evident in the challenges many SMEs have had in the UK in respect of form-filling and all the bureaucratic challenges and barriers that have come up because of Brexit. The Deputy is right about future dates and deadlines and that work continues with all sectors. I was in Rosslare recently to see the preparations and work that have been under way there.
On the matter of Article 16, I understand what Deputy Richmond is saying about the domestic British political situation. In all our exchanges, particularly at the meeting of the British-Irish Council we had with the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, and others, there was a clear sense, to be fair, that they were not going to be motivated by domestic political considerations. There was a sense that they wanted to bring this to a resolution and that they wanted, preferably, to do it in the context of a negotiated solution between the European Union and the United Kingdom. Those expressions of opinion and points were put well and cogently by Michael Gove and subsequently by the British Prime Minister in a telephone conversation I had with him. That is the preferred route of travel and everybody wants to pursue it in that manner.
On the points raised by Deputies Kelly and Brendan Smith, at the British-Irish Council the Scottish and Welsh First Ministers were at pains to point out the challenges Brexit has posed for them. That was particularly the case with the Welsh First Minister due to the reduction of trade in the ports and the potential impact on their respective economies.
Regarding the points Deputies Christopher O'Sullivan and Kelly made on the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has included that in the national development plan and will be allocating it specifically to certain areas for prioritisation. The key one will be fishing - we are very conscious of that - but also included are rural communities, the food industry, agriculture and other sectors that will be most impacted as a result of Brexit and the costs and measures we have had to introduce to deal with Brexit. It is very welcome funding of more than €1 billion that we have secured. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will be providing greater detail in respect of that in due course.
Deputy Brendan Smith is absolutely correct; that is our sense as well. Industry and businesses in the North believe the protocol is working for them. What is interesting is that, if someone is a farmer in Northern Ireland or involved in the dairy industry, the seamless flow North and South is absolutely indispensable to his or her business. Likewise, access to the Single Market for Northern businesses is important, gives an advantage and helps them to export more and, potentially, attract foreign direct investment into the North. That is important, as is access to Great Britain's market, of course, which is the biggest market for Northern Ireland. That is the ideal landing zone for the protocol, but we must do it in a way that, as the Deputy said, minimises the checks in respect of small to medium-sized business.
Real progress has been made in respect of medicines. I would argue that we are close to a position on medicines that should meet the concerns that the British Government and people in Northern Ireland have in respect of access to the latest medicines and those authorised by the British regulatory authorities. The devil is always in the detail and there is some remaining work to be done on that. The same applies to customs and sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, checks. The initial assessment from the Commission was that the proposals put forward by Commissioner Maroš Šefcovic would reduce SPS checks by about 80%. The work is ongoing between Commissioner Šefcovic and Lord Frost. We hope they can reach a proper, sensible agreement that will be to the benefit of everyone. As I said yesterday, all the participants at the British-Irish Council were very clear and articulated to the British Government that we did not want any more disruption between the EU and the UK.
Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan raised the issue of fishing specifically, including in terms of the Brexit fund. A proportion of that fund will be available to fishers. In terms of burden sharing, I recently wrote to the President of the European Commission in that respect pointing out the fact that we had too high a burden resulting from the Brexit deal. There is a long road to go. I spoke to the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries when he came here with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue. There are 27 member states and achieving agreement on these issues is very challenging and difficult, but I know that the Minister will do everything he can to get the best deal he possibly can in this annual round. The fishing review is next year. We have fed our reviews into that and will continue to do so.
Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of giving people other options. I am concerned about those who cannot have a vaccine because of medical reasons, including adverse reactions. We have followed the voluntary approach here. I am not responsible for writing headlines, but when we raise issues around what is happening in ICUs, that is not done by way of threat or trying to pressurise people. It is just stating the facts as we get them in terms of the impact of the disease and whether people are vaccinated.