Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2017
672. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the threats identified by his Department with regard to the responsibilities of his Department as a result of no deal being reached in Brexit negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26904/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 2nd May, the Government published a comprehensive document on Ireland and the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This document sets out the approach of the Government to the forthcoming negotiations, following the successful campaign to have key Irish issues recognised in the EU negotiation position. Following on from this publication, work is underway to prepare a further paper on economic implications of the Brexit challenge. This will draw on the work to date across Departments, which will be developed to mitigate emerging sectoral challenges. These plans will build on ongoing cross-Government research, analysis and consultations with stakeholders (especially through the government’s All-Island Civic Dialogue process), and will reflect the core economic themes of the Taoiseach's speech to the IIEA on 15 February last.
Ireland’s economic interests lie firmly in a strong and well-functioning EU with continued and unfettered access to the single market. There is a lot of negotiation to be done around trading arrangements. Our contingency work is examining all scenarios and we cannot pre-empt the outcome at this stage. We are not under any illusions about the complexity of these negotiations and are engaged in detailed planning to prepare for these. As Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, I will have special responsibility for coordinating the whole-of-Government response to Brexit, including developing and setting out Ireland’s approach to the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. I will be building on the excellent work carried out over recent months, which has ensured that Ireland’s interests – as set out in the comprehensive document – have been fully reflected in the EU’s negotiating position. Protecting the gains of the peace process is a key priority for the Government in dealing with Brexit. This includes ensuring that all provisions of the Good Friday Agreement are fully respected and upheld, avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland and maintaining the Common Travel Area.
In order to ensure that these specific concerns are recognised, the Government has undertaken an intensive campaign of engagement with our EU partners and the EU Institutions. This approach has delivered for Ireland and I look forward to continuing the efforts of my predecessor in this regard. I have already taken to opportunity to speak directly with a number of my EU colleagues since assuming my new responsibilities.
I welcome that the Negotiating Guidelines adopted by the European Council on 29 April and the more detailed negotiating directives adopted by the General Affairs Council on 22 May deliver on the Government’s objectives. There is a strong acknowledgement of the Ireland’s unique concerns and priorities, including protecting the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the peace process, avoiding a hard border through imaginative and flexible solutions and recognition of the need to continue bilateral agreements and arrangements with the UK, including the CTA.
I am happy that the formal negotiations were launched yesterday and I will be taking stock of this first round of discussions with the EU negotiator M. Barnier and with my EU colleagues at the General Affairs Council today. It is vital that in these opening discussions a positive tone is struck and that momentum in created so that progress can be made as quickly as possible on the many complex issues facing the negotiators. It is essential that a withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK is concluded. Not to reach such an agreement would be, I believe, a disaster for the EU and for the UK and most particularly for Ireland. It is therefore incumbent on all sides to act responsibly and to approach these negotiations in a constructive, positive and ambitious frame of mind with a willingness for compromise.
These negotiations will be complex and difficult and my Department will continue its work with colleagues across Government to ensure that solutions are advanced that reach our objectives under a range of different scenarios.
A dedicated unit on the EU-UK negotiations has been established in our EU Division, and the Department’s Ireland, UK and Americas Division, Legal Division and Trade Division have been reinforced. Specific additional senior diplomatic posts have also been assigned to our Embassies in London, Berlin and Paris as well as the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union in Brussels.
Brexit will also have implications for a broad range of policy areas that fall under the responsibility of my Department. We have cooperated closely with the UK within the EU on a number of these important areas, including in the area of foreign and development policy. A key priority for my Department is therefore to build on our partnerships with the remaining EU Member States and develop new alliances within the EU and engage more proactively with the EU institutions. This work is already underway. Discussions with EU partners have revealed that they too are very mindful of the need to intensify alliances post-Brexit and are also looking at how best to do so.
We have already seen the implications that Brexit has had for our consular and passport services. There has been a marked increase in demand for passports and citizenship via foreign birth registration from applicants in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. In this regard, the Passport Service in Dublin, Cork and London as well as Consular Division have recruited a number of additional temporary and fulltime officers to meet increased Passport and Foreign Birth Registration demands including increased demand as a result of Brexit.
It is also the Government’s objective to exploit fully any opportunities arising from the UK’s decision to leave the EU and my Department, in collaboration with other Government Departments and State Agencies, is working to support Irish businesses to identify new opportunities for their products and services by diversifying into new markets as well as intensifying efforts in existing markets. The work is being taken forward through the Export Trade Council which I chair.
