Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has warned that "only terrorists and criminals" would benefit if the UK withdrew from areas of EU police and judicial cooperation next year.

Mr Shatter told the Dáil he had previously expressed his profound concern at the possible withdrawal of the UK from a number of areas of such co-operation from the end of 2014.

He said such a move “would represent a very retrograde step in the area of security co-operations” with negative impact for a large range of issues, which were critical to the effective countering of terrorism and cross-border criminality.

Speaking during the debate on a Sinn Féin private member’s motion on the Belfast Agreement, Mr Shatter said the European Arrest Warrant was the most obvious issue that could be affected by the UK’s withdrawal. He said if Britain withdrew there would be “no legal basis for extradition between our jurisdictions” and this would be a “most undesirable situation to allow to arise”.

He warned that it was “clear that only the terrorists and criminals will profit from the legal gap which would prevent gardaí and courts from facilitating the effective investigation of offences or the bringing of people to justice”.

The Minister added that he had no desire to intervene in a political debate in another jurisdiction but he said he would be “failing in my duty if I did not continue to make these points very strongly in any meetings with my UK counterparts”.

Sinn Féin’s Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said however that the Irish Government was a co-signatory to the Belfast Agreement. They had every right to have a view and a say on the North. “They don’t need to apologise for it. They don’t need to talk about another jurisdiction.”

The Sinn Féin motion calls on the Government to work with the British government and all political parties to re-energise the peace process. It also calls for the introduction of a Bill of rights and language equality legislation.

Mr Mac Lochlainn said there needed to be frank discussion because the Agreement was not being fully honoured. “If complacency continues then we know where complacency has led in the past” and that was on the path to violence.

Sinn Féin Kerry North TD Martin Ferris said his party rejected any attempts to create and sustain a hierarchy of victims. "All victims and survivors of the conflict must be treated on the basis of equality, he said calling for an independent international truth commission was necessary as a "vehicle for truth recovery".

Fine Gael Donegal South-West TD Joe McHugh said it was important to create a space for politicians and civic society in Northern Ireland to develop their vision for its future.

He said the weight of the past could not be ignored and the parades commission was working tirelessly with communities to avoid contentious parades. “With over 4,500 parades annually, this can be very difficult.”

He added that the people of Ulster were “big enough and bold enough to know that this peace journey, which is very much in its infancy, will require help along the way”.

And he urged members of the House “to reach out to our neighbours who are only a few miles up the road”.