To ask the Minister of Justice for an update on her Department’s preparations for the end of the transition period in December 2020.

Mrs Long

My officials are working at pace with law enforcement partners, other Northern Ireland Executive Departments and the UK Government on operational readiness to ensure that my Department and our justice partners are as prepared as we can be for the end of the transition period on 31 December.

Relations between our Northern Ireland justice agencies and their counterparts in Ireland are also good. However, a non-negotiated outcome remains a possibility, and there remain unresolved issues around what measures will be available to law enforcement partners to tackle pan-EU crime and cross-border crime in Ireland.

Until we have more clarity on the outcome of the negotiations, and until the outworking of the Northern Ireland protocol is fully implemented, we will be unable to prepare fully for exit from the transition period. The Internal Market Bill, recently introduced at Westminster, has created further confusion and uncertainty. The UK Government's intention to undermine the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol has the potential to impact upon the negotiations on the future security partnership with the EU. That is to be regretted. I met the Home Secretary on 10 September, and, as part of a very constructive meeting, I took the opportunity to reinforce that a lack of detail about the negotiations and about the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol is hampering our ability to plan fully for exit from the transition period.

Mrs Long

The Member is correct: there is currently no agreement on data adequacy. I have reinforced to UK Ministers the need for measures to mitigate any negative impacts that might arise from a loss of unrestricted cross-border data flows. Data sharing is crucial to law enforcement in Northern Ireland, particularly in tackling cross-border crime. It also underpins many of the EU criminal justice tools and measures relied on for the detection and prosecution of pan-EU crime. I am concerned about the potential loss of access to those justice measures that support the fight against such crime. Loss of access to vital tools such as the Schengen information system (SIS2), the Prüm Convention, and the European criminal records information exchange system (ECRIS) would be detrimental, with the potential to seriously compromise Europe-wide investigations. Therefore, adequate, efficient and effective data sharing with EU countries in the future will be vital in maintaining operational capacity, particularly with Ireland. The PSNI share and receive data with other law enforcement partners daily. We have been engaged with Home Office colleagues to ensure that that future security partnership will be able to take things forward. With respect to the issue of civil justice, it is being negotiated not as part of the future security partnership but as part of the wider trade negotiations, and, as such, is not a priority for the UK Government at this time.

Mr Sheehan

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a freagra. I thank the Minister for her answers so far. Brexit will probably mean the loss of access to some of the important EU justice and security cooperation mechanisms. I wonder, in the light of that, whether the Minister has had any meetings with her Southern counterpart. If so, can she detail what those meetings have been?

Mrs Long

I thank the Member for that question. I have, indeed, had discussions with Minister McEntee, and, obviously, Brexit is one of the issues that has been highlighted. It is also worth Members noting that should the future security partnership not be agreed, as it is coupled at present with the trade negotiations — both have to be agreed for either to be implemented — we would be entirely reliant on the protocol to be able to negotiate bilateral arrangements with Ireland in order to move forward. Therefore there are challenges if we do not have the protocol, in that we move back to the cliff edge. There are about 40 EU justice and security measures that would fall under a no-deal Brexit. Their loss would impact significantly on the ability of the UK law enforcement agencies to address pan-EU crime, including cross-border crime on this island.

Mr O'Toole

It seems, from what the Justice Minister is saying, that we face a crisis at the end of this year in law enforcement if we crash out without a deal. Will the Minister confirm that the protocol does not cover justice and security measures? Will she further confirm that her permanent secretary told the House of Commons Select Committee this time last year that not having the European arrest warrant would increase the burden on law enforcement agencies to swap information across the border? Will she further raise as a matter of urgency at the North/South Ministerial Council the need to ensure that we have adequate protections in North/South law enforcement on 1 January next year?

Mrs Long

There are a number of threads to the question. First, the future security partnership is making much better progress in negotiations with the EU than the trade partnership appears to be making at this remove. The future security partnership is in everyone's interest. Much of the crime that we have in Northern Ireland is not generated here; equally, crime that is generated here can happen anywhere in the rest of the EU, so there is mutual benefit to us finding an agreed way forward. The difficulty comes if it remains coupled to the trade negotiations and those trade negotiations are unsuccessfully concluded, because we will end up with neither a trade agreement in place nor a future security partnership. It is true to say that, if we do not know exactly what the trade arrangements will be, we risk creating a much more complex landscape for our justice agencies, because we will have layers of non-compliance, from those who are ignorant of the requirements on their business, to those who are deliberately ignoring the requirements on their business, to those who are in the black market. What we do not want to do is punish people who genuinely want to comply with the law by creating any grey areas and forcing them into an area of non-compliance. It is a hugely important and serious issue. We could end up in a situation where, for example, European arrest warrants and other key tools that we have been able to use have to be renegotiated under bilateral agreements with each individual country, if we are not able to do that as part of the overall agreement that is reached with the UK at that level. I do not believe that that is a helpful way forward. We have those tools in place. I think that our focus has to be on getting an agreement on, if nothing else, the future security partnership so that we can at least secure the future and make our population feel safe, even if we do not get to the point where we have an agreed trade agreement.

Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Beggs)

I encourage Members to continue to rise in their place if they still have a question to ask.

Miss Woods

Can the Minister outline what budget has been allocated in the Department of Justice to address Brexit issues and whether any funding issues have arisen in the last couple of months?

Mrs Long

I do not have figures to hand on the amount allocated so far to EU developments, but I know that, at the moment, we do not have any additional budget issues. However, we, as responsible account holders, have raised with the Department of Finance the potential for this to become a very expensive process if we end the transition period without an agreement, because, obviously, it will become very difficult and, potentially, more cumbersome for law enforcement agencies as well. At this point, we are not in that situation. As you know, Brexit issues are being handled separately from the normal Budget, so it is not causing pressures in the Department's budget at this point.