Recommendation 9

Over the past two decades, the PSNI and the Gardaí have made great progress in developing co-operation mechanisms to tackle cross-border criminality on the island of Ireland. We are assured that this will continue after Brexit. The structures that have been built up to aid UK and Irish law enforcement agencies in their mutual aim of frustrating cross-border crime will become increasingly important now that the UK has left the EU and lost access to some EU security and justice databases. Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit 45 There is, though, a risk that the tools and systems used by UK law enforcement agencies for cross-border information sharing will fall behind those that Irish and other EU authorities have access to. We have heard that this is in part due to the European Union’s approach to granting third countries full access to such measures. There is also the risk in the future that any unilateral divergence may have an impact on information sharing. This could lead to an imbalance in capabilities between UK and Irish authorities and inadvertently hand criminals an opportunity to exploit these discrepancies. In doing so, the impact would be felt on the streets of Great Britain, as much as on the island of Ireland. The Government must use the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Co-operation to, where possible and cognisant of third country limitations, make the case for ongoing and organic alignment between the UK and EU in the development of information sharing systems.