I want to raise with the Taoiseach the impending need for motorists who travel North-South and vice versa to have a green card post Brexit and a no-deal scenario. Many people, not least in my own constituency of Donegal and in other Border counties, are incredibly angry about this. The company with which I have motor insurance emailed all of its policyholders last month advising that we needed to apply for a green card if we plan to cross the Border or drive in Britain and that we needed to apply by the beginning of March. I wanted to know how the process worked and if there would be a charge for the green card so I telephoned the insurance company. I was to told to call back in a fortnight's time because they, just like the rest of us, did not know what was happening in regard to the green card process owing to the lack of certainty in regard to the outcome of Brexit. The insurance company told policyholders that it will start issuing green cards after 29 March, when it is hoped a decision will have be taken. I asked them what would happen to motorists on, say, 30 March who do not have a green card. As far as people are aware, their cars can be impounded if they travel at that time to the North without a green card. This is worrying for people. A huge number of people are unaware of the implications of not having a green card. People are angry that they will have to hold an international insurance certificate to travel across the Border. For example, people who travel across the Lifford Bridge into Strabane on a daily, if not, weekly basis will have to have an international insurance certificate. What annoys me, and most of the Irish public, is the fact that this matter has not been resolved heretofore.

According to the Motor Insurance Bureau in Britain, motorists do not need a green card for any European country, but obviously that will change post Brexit, and, more importantly, there a number of non-European countries in respect of which motorists do not need to have a green card, including Andorra, Serbia and Switzerland. This shows that countries outside of the European Union have in place arrangements under which a green card is not necessary. Given we have known for over two years that Brexit was going to happen, and given the sensitivities around the Border that have been at the cornerstone of our discussions in regard to Brexit, there are serious questions as to how the Minister, Deputy Ross, has allowed this situation to unfold, with hundreds of thousands of policyholders unaware of what is required in terms of a green card when we are just weeks away from a potential no-deal Brexit. This matter should have been dealt with by way of bilateral agreement between the Commission and the British authorities such that the North of Ireland would be exempt from this scenario.

What role has the Taoiseach or the Minister, Deputy Ross, played in ensuring that this issue was dealt with before 29 March? Will the Taoiseach commit to ensuring that it is dealt with before 29 March and what proposals or solutions does he intend to put in place before that date?

I appreciate this is a very important issue and an issue of great concern to thousands of people who cross the Border every day in their cars, whether it is roughly 10,000 cross-Border workers going from North to South or South to North, whether it is students or just people passing through Northern Ireland on their way to and from Donegal, for example. It is an issue that the Government is aware of. It is one that we are trying to ensure is resolved before 29 March. The position is, of course, different in the two jurisdictions. If there is a no-deal scenario on 29 March, Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, will no longer be covered by the EU motor insurance directive. We will because we will still be in the European Union. There will be differences depending on individual policies. However, I am informed that the vast majority of the insurance policies which people hold cover the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, but they will need proof of that, which is in the form of a green card.

South of the Border in this State, while motorists are required to have a green card as proof of insurance, it is not an offence not to have one. There will be a grace period for people who are based in Northern Ireland and coming south and have insurance but not a green card. We cannot make a commitment on behalf of the Government in Northern Ireland, because there is not one, and we cannot make commitments on behalf of the UK Government. For people entering this jurisdiction, as long as their insurance policies cover them for this State, even if they do not have a green card on 30 March or 1 or 2 April, they will not be prosecuted for it. There will be a grace period for that reason.

At the core of this is a Minister who has been asleep at the wheel for the past two years. There have been many issues that have been resolved. We facilitated the omnibus Bill which covers a wide range of issues. In regard to motorists travelling across the Border there are serious concerns because two things can happen. First, in a no-deal scenario, a motorist who crosses the Lifford Bridge post 29 March and does not have a green card could have his or her car impounded. Second, a policyholder who is not covered to drive in that territory and is involved in an accident will not be covered in terms of insurance. This could have been resolved. The Commission can allow Northern Ireland and the UK to be exempt from this requirement. We have questioned the Minister, Deputy Ross, at length on this issue. Deputy Munster has put question after question to him regarding what interaction he has had on this issue with his counterpart in Britain and with the Commission and he has come up short on all occasions. We have a number of weeks to resolve this matter. It goes to the core of the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement in terms of all-Ireland policies. We now face a situation whereby people crossing the Border will be required to hold an international insurance certificate. There are many people who will refuse to do that and there are more people unaware of the consequences of not having it.

The Taoiseach needs to intervene directly because the Minister, Deputy Ross, has been asleep at the wheel. He needs to raise this at the highest level with the Commission and get a solution such that people will not be faced with having their cars impounded or, worse, in the case of an accident which occurs outside of this jurisdiction, not having the necessary insurance to cover them, their vehicles or the third parties involved.

I thank the Deputy and I recognise his support and that of his party for the omnibus Bill, which is likely to get through the Dáil today. As the Deputy will be aware, the omnibus Bill applies to this jurisdiction. We do not have the authority to pass laws in this place for Northern Ireland. Only the Northern Ireland Assembly has the authority to do that. The Northern Ireland Assembly, for reasons of which the Deputy is aware, has not sat for nearly two years so we need to find an alternative solution. That solution involves a bilateral agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom as a whole. We have such arrangements in place for aviation, to allow aviation to continue to as normal, at least for nine months. Arrangements are in place around haulage licences as well. This issue has been raised and it is being worked on. Our objective is to conclude an agreement bilaterally between the EU and the UK, at least for a period of months, but that has yet to be finalised.

Will it be finalised before 29 March?

Yes, of course.