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Seanad
‹ Order of Business

Rolling Brexit debate

Summary

Senator Diarmuid Wilson welcomed the Brexit discussion time and urged a rolling debate with key ministers, stressing the Border region’s exposure to the consequences.

It is welcome that the Leader has allocated an hour and a half today to discuss Brexit. I call on him to consider having a rolling debate on the matter and invite the various Ministers who will primarily be affected such as the Ministers for Finance, Justice and Equality, Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Education and Skills and Defence to the House. It is important to hear from these Ministers and others about their plans for Brexit when it occurs. I live only eight miles from the Border; six of the nine counties in Ulster are governed by Britain. Some three years ago the most modern army barracks in Europe and the only purpose-built army barracks in the history of the State was closed by the former Minister, Alan Shatter, and the previous Government. On that occasion, with other colleagues in the Lower House, I raised concerns, not only about the personnel based there being deployed to various other barracks three hours' commute away but also the security implications in the Border area in which dissident republicans are still very active. Cross-Border crime is, unfortunately, on the increase. As a result of Brexit, the importance of the barracks has come back into sharp focus. We do not know what will happen regarding the security of the Border. I call on the Leader to bring the Minister for Defence before the House as a matter of urgency to outline his plans, if any, to reopen the barracks. I urge him to do so before it is dismantled. It was sold in a Houdini trick, whereby one Department took it over from another. That was supposed to save money for the State, but it now costs more to maintain it than when it was occupied.

I concur with everything Senator Denis Landy said about county and city councillors and their pay and conditions. Before the summer recess the House passed an all-party motion. We met on one occasion with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, and had a very constructive meeting. I would hate to think county and city councillors will become pawns in a potential leadership battle within Fine Gael or victims of pay demands by other unions within the public sector. I echo the call made for the committee to meet again as a matter of urgency and that we work with our colleagues in LAMA and the AILG to see what we can do to improve the pay and conditions of county and city councillors.

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