Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I last spoke to Prime Minister May on Monday, 26 February, as I reported to the House on 28 February. We discussed Brexit and I restated our preference that a solution on the Border be found within the overall future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom. I pointed to the necessity on the EU side to have the detail of the backstop option spelled out in the draft legal text of the withdrawal agreement.

I listened with interest to the Prime Minister's speech on Friday, 2 March - the Mansion House speech - in which she gave a number of important reassurances, including stating her overall goal of having a very close relationship with the European Union after the United Kingdom left. I particularly welcome her clear commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland peace process, the need to avoid a hard border and also the agreement reached between the United Kingdom and the European Union in their December joint report, over which she stands. Her speech included a number of signals about the type of future economic relationship there might be between the European Union and the United Kingdom, but it also recognised that the United Kingdom would have to face hard choices, given the constraints between some of its stated aims and objectives and the red lines it had set out, including departing from the Single Market and the customs union and rejecting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

For our part, a close economic relationship and free trade are very much in the interests of Irish business, Irish citizens and public services, as is having a smooth transition period. I am concerned, however, that some of the constraints in leaving the customs union and the Single Market are not fully recognised on the UK side. Therefore, we will now need to see more detailed and realistic proposals from the UK Government.

I welcome the real progress that has been made between the EU and UK negotiating teams on the withdrawal agreement. The Government, as part of the EU 27, has pushed hard for sensible and practical approaches to citizens' rights, the financial settlement, the transition period and issues specific to Ireland. There has been progress on the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. On Monday last the United Kingdom conceded that a backstop solution on the Border issue would form part of the legal text of the withdrawal agreement. It has also agreed that all of the issues identified in the European Union text will be addressed to deliver a legally sound solution to avoid a hard border. Prime Minister May confirmed these agreements in her letter to President Tusk last Monday, in addition to reiterating the United Kingdom's commitment to agreements reached last December on protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the gains of the peace process, including the overarching guarantee to avoid a hard border.

Meanwhile, the Government has continued to work closely with Michel Barnier, whom the Tánaiste met as recently as Monday, the Commission task force and our EU partners as we prepare for the European Council later this week. I expect to see Prime Minister May at the meeting on Thursday. I also expect further guidelines to be agreed to by the Council to enable detailed discussions to begin on the European Union's future relationship with the United Kingdom. Progress on the recently published withdrawal agreement, including the Irish issues, will be important in the next phase of discussions.

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