Ms Lorraine Higgins:

I thank Senator Daly for his question. The EU has been very steadfast in declaring that we cannot enter into a bilateral agreement with another country that is outside the Union.

It must be negotiated as part of the EU position. All we ask is that the EU follows precedent. Earlier the good example of East Germany and West Germany was given. The Munich agreement concerns Germany and the Czech Republic or Czechoslovakia as the country was known before it entered the Union. We need to ramp up activities. We need to get as much information from our MEPs and get them and our Commissioner to push for this measure on the floor of the European Parliament. They must find out what is tolerable within the EU. The information will strengthen our negotiating position as we will know what we can push for. We also need to liaise a bit more with Spain, which is playing hardball with Europe. We have many fora but we need an informed plan. We must ensure that we minimise the impact and maximise the opportunity for all industries in the island of Ireland.