Councillors' pay and Brexit border
Senator Craughwell withdrew an earlier criticism about councillors’ pay, then raised concerns about the prospect of a hard border after Brexit.
I apologise to the Leader for the tongue lashing I gave him the other day on the issue of county councillors' pay and the notion that there might have been some sort of deal done in that regard on some Thursday night in a dark smoky room with his fellow Fine Gael Senators. As the Minister set out his views in that regard on Friday last at the Local Authorities' Members Association, LAMA, conference, I think everybody now knows where we are going in that regard.
A few days after the UK Brexit vote, I spoke about the possibility of a hard border being in place. I also issued a press statement on the matter. Quite a number of people scoffed at the suggestion and said there was no possibility of it happening and that a deal would be done between Ireland and the United Kingdom in that regard. This matter will be decided not by Ireland and the United Kingdom but the 26 remaining member countries of the European Union. There are a couple of issues of concern to me. With the agreement of the Leader, I would like the Minister for Defence to come to the House at his convenience to discuss the preparedness of the Defence Forces to man a border should it be required. I am not saying this is what Ireland wants. I also do not believe it is what the United Kingdom wants, but there are other countries involved. This matter may be taken out of our hands in the next number of months. The uncertainty is so great that we must ensure we are prepared for every eventuality.
I also ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Finance to come to the House to discuss the revenue implications of a hard or soft border being imposed. The movement of up to 30,000 people across the Border and the transportation of 1 million gallons of milk back and forth across the Border are issues that will have a massive impact on the Irish and UK economies. We need to address these issues. I compliment the Taoiseach on looking at the matter in an all-Ireland capacity. I ask the Leader to endeavour to have the Ministers for Defence and Finance come to the House to discuss these issues.