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Brexit and Parliamentary Reform

Government Chief Whip and Minister of State in the Department of An Taoiseach, Regina Doherty, has this week hosted a delegation from the Scottish Government, including the Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe FitzPatrick MSP in Government Buildings.

The Scottish Minister for Parliamentary Business along with a delegation from the Scottish Government, travelled to Dublin yesterday following an invitation from the Government Chief Whip, Regina Doherty, for a series of bilateral discussions on Brexit, legislative programme and parliamentary reform.

Minister Regina Doherty said “having recently invited my counterpart in the Scottish Parliament, the Minister for Parliamentary Business Joe FitzPatrick MSP, to Ireland I was delighted to facilitate several bilateral meetings with my cabinet colleagues since the arrival of the Scottish delegation yesterday morning.

“The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, met with Minister FitzPatrick yesterday afternoon to discuss Freedom of Information Legislation, which was followed by a meeting with Minister for Housing Planning and Local Government, Simon Coveney, where a constructive discussion on our electoral systems took place.

“Brexit was a prominent topic of discussion during my two meetings with the Scottish Minister where we discussed the potential bearing that the United Kingdom’s exit from Europe may have on Ireland and Scotland. We also had a practical discussion around the influence of our respective nations’ input on any future Brexit negotiations.

“A further meeting was held this morning in the Department of An Taoiseach which involved in depth discussions with the Scottish Minister and his delegation on parliamentary reform and legislative programme. This was later followed by a meeting with the Ceann Comhairle and staff from Leinster House on the interaction between Government and Parliament in minority Government before Minister FitzPatrick’s return to Scotland.”

Concluding the Government Chief Whip stated that “this was a very successful series of meetings which is just one of over 300 engagements currently are taking place at political and official level with EU countries and institutions in light of Brexit. I look forward to continuing this dialogue with my European counterparts in the coming weeks and months where I hope to hold similar discussions both on the important issue of Brexit, and parliamentary reform within my own Ministerial portfolio.”