David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach knows, Sinn Féin has given him and the Government a qualified support on Brexit. We do so because we genuinely want the best outcome for Ireland and for Irish citizens North and South. We have acknowledged a degree of progress made on a range of issues in recent times. That was down to the collective efforts of many people, including members of the Government, which we acknowledge.

While the draft plan published this week contains positives for Ireland, other elements demand a more critical reflection.

First, while the agreement commits Britain to having a protocol on Ireland, it completely avoids the detail of such a protocol. It states "a legally operative version of the "backstop" solution for the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, in line with paragraph 49 of the Joint Report, should be agreed as part of the legal text of the Withdrawal Agreement, to apply unless and until another solution is found". However, it goes on to state, "There is as yet no agreement on the right operational approach". Therein lies the problem. We were told last November by the Taoiseach that we had a cast iron guarantee on the backstop agreement. The European Commission tried to put that agreement in a legal format. It did, but it was rejected out of hand by the British Government. The British Prime Minister said no British Prime Minister could agree to such an outcome. We were told this week that the British Government would agree to a protocol, but we do not know what protocol to which it will agree or what it will involve. That raises fundamental and profound questions about what exactly different people are talking about. When the Taoiseach talks about a backstop agreement and informs the House of what it means, it seems to be completely at variance with what Mrs. Theresa May and her Government are saying. That is the problem. While Britain agrees to the protocol in principle, it seems that it does not agree to it in practice. That is the current position. The negotiators have agreed to disagree in order to keep the negotiations on the road.

Let us remember that there was always a fear in Ireland that the Irish issue would be parked. The other countries and the European negotiators, understandably, want to focus on the more thorny issue of a trade agreement between Britain and the European Union. While that is important, we cannot allow the Irish issue to be parked and cannot allow a fudge. The difficulty for all of us and the Government is evident. There is a fundamental difference between the political agreement reached last November and a legal agreement. When we try to move from a situation where we go from having a political agreement to a legal agreement and put it in legal text, we do not have any agreement between the European Commission and the British Government. I want to know how we will bridge that gap and what exactly is the position of the British Government. We are all trying to separate the spin from the British Government from reality. We know and are all conscious that the British Prime Minister has to manage different factions within her party, but we are also trying to understand what exactly is going on because the British position is very inconsistent. That raises questions for the Taoiseach in making sure we will achieve the best possible outcome. Notwithstanding the fine words about cast iron guarantees and what the Taoiseach has said in the past, there is no cast iron guarantee when they are juxtaposed with Mrs. Theresa May's speech a number of weeks ago and the stated position of the British Government that it cannot agree to the legal text as set out by the European Commission. While progress has been made, the Taoiseach has a long way to go. He should keep his eye on the big prize which in the final analysis is the final withdrawal agreement. That is on what we need to keep our eyes and if the Taoiseach gets the right result, we, in Sinn Féin, will support him.

See this speech in context