Brendan Smith warns of economic shock as Brexit transition ends

Firstly I want to compliment Minister Coveney and Minister Borne and their officials in the department on preparing this legislation and I know other departments fed into it quite necessarily as well. This is an important legislation and it's welcome from many points of view. It ensures reciprocal access to health services for residents of Ireland and Britain and indeed Deputy Burke has outlined that in good detail. It ensures the European Health Insurance Card for residents of Northern Ireland should they lose that particular facility when Britain exits the first of January next. It continues the financial support for Irish third level students in British colleges. It maintains continuity of social protection arrangements in the common travel area. It protects employees in Ireland of a company that has been made insolvent in Britain. It enables extradition between Ireland and Britain when Britain leaves the European arrest warrant scheme. So these are issues that we deal with on a daily basis and that we take for granted. But they're very very important protections for our citizens. In barely seven weeks time Britain will be outside not just the European Union but most importantly and very regrettably will be outside the customs union and the single market. The trading and economic relationship between Ireland and Britain which has been gradually and progressively aligning and harmonising for almost 50 years will receive a cold hard shock. Those almost 50 years of progress will be very substantially reversed and that has to be a cause of concern to all of us. Moving goods to and from Ireland and Britain will become more expensive and cumbersome. Not to mention the added difficulties of trading goods with our EU partners when those goods must travel through the so called land bridge that runs right through Britain. It is not just about goods. Much of the economic and trade activity across our two islands is in services and increasingly so in recent years. The obstacles, costs and impediments to the trading of goods are replicated when it comes to trading services with the added difficulty of data transfers and an area where there is increasing uncertainty. We have been seeing the battles over the protection and integrity of personal data transferred to the US being played out in our courts. The two methods introduced to permit businesses to transfer the personal data of EU citizens to the US have both been struck down. Safe harbour and privacy shield. Could we face the same problems and difficulties in transferring data to Britain when Britain is outside the EU and no longer under the aegis of the GDPR? Our economy unfortunately is about to receive a major jolt if not a seismic shock and yet with just seven weeks to go we remain unsure as to the nature and construction of the new relationship. And that is not the fault of anybody in our state or in government at political or official level. It is extraordinary that we cannot state with any certainty now, with only seven weeks to go, if there will be a post Brexit deal between Britain and the European Union, never mind what it will contain. I know Anthisiuk and the Minister for Foreign Affairs have repeatedly said that we anticipate that there will be such a deal and that is an important message to give out. I know that there is very little evidence that can be said right now, as if government were to talk about a no deal situation, it would be seized upon by the Brexiteers in the British government as evidence that the EU just wants to punish England for having the temerity to leave the EU. But the delay in reaching agreement and negotiations is going to cause businesses in my constituency and many, many other areas and right across the border on both sides. We are working in the hope that there will be some last-minute agreement on such outstanding issues as fishing and a level playing field. But we are also seeing deadline after deadline pass. I know that Minister Coveney spoke at the Committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement recently and we all spoke about the need to implement the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol, not just implement them but implement them in good faith as well. We know that any agreement reaching the negotiations led by Michelle Barney and David Frost would need to go through a ratification process and yet we watch the clock tick down. It is worth asking the question, just how sustainable and long-lasting would any agreement reached in these stop-start talks with the representatives of the current British Government be? A British National Audit Office report on the British border preparedness published last week makes it clear that there will be significant disruption at the end of the transition period because of inadequate infrastructure and IT systems. The report also said that there was lack of preparation on the part of British businesses. What it does not say is how British businesses can be expected to prepare themselves for the post January the first black hole when their own Government has not a clue what it is doing or trying to achieve. Irish businesses are being expected. Irish businesses have been placed in a similar position though the Irish Government and State agencies have been working hard in so far as they can to help businesses to prepare by offering as best assessment of what the situation will look like and very importantly as well giving financial support to businesses to prepare. Irish businesses have been placed. Irish businesses have been picked up in the world for its research and the American newspapers have been used for now.