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Cabinet Committees

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 February 2022

Wednesday, 2 February 2022

Questions (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)

Neale Richmond

Question:

9. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will meet next. [3070/22]

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Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

10. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [4366/22]

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Seán Haughey

Question:

11. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [4635/22]

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Neale Richmond

Question:

12. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [4687/22]

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Peadar Tóibín

Question:

13. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [4714/22]

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Brendan Smith

Question:

14. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will meet next. [4741/22]

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Alan Kelly

Question:

15. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [4805/22]

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Oral answers (9 contributions)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 15, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland was formally established by Government on 6 July 2020. It had its first meeting on 29 October 2020. The Cabinet committee last met on 4 March 2021. The meeting scheduled for Monday, 29 November 2021 had to be postponed. Relevant issues arising on Brexit and Northern Ireland are regularly considered at meetings of the full Cabinet. For example, after the meeting that was scheduled for 29 November 2021 was postponed, Cabinet considered two comprehensive memos on the North-South co-operation, as well as on the shared island initiative in December. The next meeting of the committee has now been scheduled for Thursday, 24 February. The Cabinet committee on Europe also discusses 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.

While I appreciate there are regular interventions and engagements between the Taoiseach and Ministers in a whole host of areas, it is slightly concerning that it has been a while since there has been a dedicated meeting of this Cabinet committee. It is important and I am glad to hear it is resuming at the end of the month.

I very much hope by the end of the month that we still have an Executive in Stormont. I hope that the idle threats being made on a daily basis by certain members do not come to fruition. The latest by the North's agriculture minister is in regard to stopping checks altogether. Acting unilaterally is yet another indication of the disappointing approach taken to an international agreement by so many parties.

As a supplementary question, will the Taoiseach in his response expand on the preparation that has been made at Cabinet level for any political eventualities leading up to the Assembly elections in the North in May? It is important this Government plays the most important role within the EU with the UK and with the Executive in Northern Ireland to ensure Brexit issues are kept front and centre. There is a concerning level of drift. As Europe and the UK understandably get distracted with other areas, it lands on Dublin. It lands on the Taoiseach’s Government to ensure this remains a centre focus.

The Taoiseach is aware the DUP continues to boycott the North-South Ministerial Council. As has been said previously, the party leadership continues to issue threats to the North's political stability. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that these actions do not serve anybody in the North well. What is his view on, and the Government's response to, the DUP's boycotting of the North-South Ministerial Council? What recent engagements have the Taoiseach or officials had with their British counterparts in respect of the proposed amnesty legislation? What was the outcome of these discussions?

This week marks two years since Britain formally Brexited, or exited from the European Union, bringing the North with it despite majority support there for remain. The resumption of talks at the joint working committee on the withdrawal agreement on 21 February signals another crunch point for the North. What actions is the Government taking at a bilateral or European level to advance observer status for the North at a European level?

Where stands the Government's outstanding commitment to a referendum on presidential voting rights? There is cross-party support for voting rights to be extended to citizens living beyond this State. When does the Taoiseach expect the Minister to bring heads of Bill to the Government for approval?

The UK has been out of the EU for over a year now. What analysis is being undertaken by the Cabinet committee on the effects of Brexit on the Republic of Ireland? Some headlines in recent weeks have made reference to the effective end of the so-called land bridge, in that there has been a dramatic fall in Irish lorries using British ports and a rise in direct ferry routes to mainland Europe. Goods imports from Britain to the Republic have decreased by 20%. At the same time, cross-Border trade has increased substantially while exports from the Republic into Britain have increased by 20%. These statistics are compiled by the Central Statistics Office. We need to establish what is going on here. We are also told that Brexit has boosted international banks based in Ireland to the tune of over €500 billion and that Ireland is in second place behind Germany when it comes to the value of assets relocated to EU banks from UK banks after Brexit. We are all agreed that there is no such thing as a good Brexit. Has the Cabinet committee been able to consider a comprehensive report on the effects of Brexit one year on? What do the statistics tell us about the fallout from Brexit at this stage?

The Taoiseach referred earlier to the pension age in the North being increased to 66, which is certainly not a good thing. I would suggest that hiding behind that fact is not an excuse for not returning the pension age to 65. This is a point I have often made to the Taoiseach. Surely if we want to encourage people to be part of a united Ireland, we need to make being part of a united Ireland a more attractive option. It should be a better and different place for ordinary people and that is a good reason for us to restore the pension age to 65. In any event, raising the pension age was simply an austerity measure that was brought in during an economic crisis precipitated by bankers and developers, an emergency which has now passed. In France, the pension age is 62, while it is 65 in Belgium, 62 in Malta and 65 in Austria. There is simply no justification for raising the pension age. We should restore it to 65 in the interests of fairness for working people.

In the first instance, I take Deputy Richmond's point. We cover the Brexit issue at the EU Cabinet committee as well and we have had meetings with the key Ministers and party leaders in the context of the EU and in respect of key moments for Brexit. I have met the British Prime Minister on the protocol issues specifically and made matters very clear. There was a very energetic engagement at the time of COP26 when there was commentary to the effect that Article 16 might be invoked. Our engagement was sustained across Government and all Ministers involved had an impact on the re-evaluation of that by the British Government. The British Government retains the right to do what it feels it needs to do but I accept the Foreign Secretary's statement that it is committed to reaching a resolution of the protocol issues through negotiation with the European Union process. There are challenges with regard to timelines and in that respect there is a need to bring these discussions and negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom to a positive conclusion that creates an environment within Northern Ireland where the institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement can work to the fullest extent possible. On the preparation for what might happen, we have to be aware of self-fulfilling prophecies. All our focus and attention is on the institutions staying intact and I have been very consistent on that with anyone I have met. People should fulfil all aspects of those institutions, including North-South engagement.

We acknowledge that there is an issue with the protocol. Unionist political parties have raised that and parties representing nationalism, to use a broad term, have also said they do not have an issue if restrictions are reduced and if we can make the operation of the protocol more efficient. Maroš Šefčovič engaged in very good faith with the Northern Ireland parties and continues to do so with the British Government. The EU has made very significant advances on the earlier position on a number of fronts. The issue of the protocol is a constant focus of the Government and there is constant engagement at multilateral levels or multilayered levels between the European, British and Irish Administrations. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, is also working on this with the Foreign Secretary. Primarily it is still a negotiation between the European Union and the United Kingdom as this is an agreement they had entered into.

Deputy McDonald raised the matter of the DUP. As I said, we acknowledge that there are issues but in our view it is not right that the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are not fulfilled, particularly the North-South dimension and the sectoral meetings. That is wrong. No positive agenda at all is served by the breakdown of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. The people want politicians to work on their behalf and to work for them. The Commission has listened and I will continue to engage on the matter. I met with the Orange Order on Monday and had a lengthy and frank discussion about the protocol. The benefits of the protocol are beginning to manifest themselves.

I have written formally to the British Prime Minster, as I said yesterday in my speech dealing with legacy. I have also spoken to him, of course. I recently met the British ambassador and had a lengthy discussion where I made very clear again the absolute necessity not to take unilateral action in relation to legacy and to respect the views of the families of victims.

Deputy Haughey's point is very valid and important. It is early days yet in some respects with Brexit. There will be a need for a much more comprehensive analysis of the impact of Brexit. Some of Brexit has not happened yet, such as export controls. We still have unfettered access to the UK market and customs or regulatory frameworks. The Deputy's earlier statistics are correct. When I was at the British-Irish Council the Welsh First Minister was very concerned about the drop in trade and the volume of trade coming from Holyhead. Irish businesses have adapted very quickly and are now taking the direct route to the Continent so there is a huge worry in Wales about the impact on its ports.

Even though it is a year on, it is still early days as to how this will settle and the protocol is important in that respect. More than that, with regard to the banking issue, benefits have come our way in some respects. Overall, we do not agree with Brexit and think it was a wrong thing to do from a policy perspective.

In terms of Deputy Boyd Barrett's contribution on the pension age, the point I was making and I do not want to go into it, was that a decision was taken to raise it to 66. Much work is to be done to make sure we have a sustainable pension for the coming 30 to 50 years. That is the work of the Pensions Commission and the Commission on Taxation on Welfare and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands which has produced a report to feed into that process.

It is not about making Northern Ireland more attractive-----

Making a united Ireland.

The fundamental issues are identity. It came across in the meeting yesterday again. It is about identity. We need to accommodate different identities and have parity of esteem between different traditions on the island. That is why we have progressed the shared island initiative very energetically and strongly. It is an important initiative.

Think about a united Ireland.

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