Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for having to leave the room for a minute. I would like to address a couple of points that have arisen.

Members across the room have given the impression that somehow the Irish Government or Irish politicians are not committed to doing what is necessary in the present climate. Please be assured that they are. The Taoiseach has repeatedly laid the groundwork. The constant chipping away, criticism and undermining of the ability of Irish institutions to carry the day is not a good thing. All of the political parties in this House, as far as I am aware, sing off the same hymn sheet.

Let me explain trade deals. In 1989, the GDP per capitain this country was half that of the countries in the European Free Trade Association, EFTA, which was half that of the United States. The only country in the European Union that came close to our GDP was Luxembourg. Since then, Ireland has reached the position of being on par with all of the leaders in the European Union, which did not happen overnight or without the commitment of the European Union and the Irish people. It is a fact of life now and is a major achievement.

I have been amazed by some of the things alluded to by Sinn Féin's MEP, Mr. Matt Carthy. I heard a reference in the House, not so long ago, to the effect that the policy was akin to Tory policy. I heard that we would move away from the European Union concept altogether and return to free trade agreement. That is Tory policy and is what they want. That is why the Tories are leaving the European Union. The Tory party is committed to that policy. Who wins in that situation? The bigger country always wins. That is why we have trade deals. They protect smaller countries. Trade deals also provide collegiality in terms of the need to address the issues that arise and they deal with them, accordingly. If one country falls out then all of the countries fall out, which makes a huge difference.

I want to mention the possibility of protectionism. As the Chairman and everyone else seated around this table knows as well as I do, protectionism is not the answer because of who wins. The bigger country wins. The bigger economic bloc always wins.

I compliment Ms Martina Anderson on one thing. There is an urgent need to have an Assembly in Northern Ireland. It would be hugely beneficial to what we in this part of the island are trying to do. It would be hugely beneficial to the outcome of the negotiations that are taking place.

I have one reservation. We tend to blame the European Commission for lots of things. We can sack the European Commission but we cannot sack the European Parliament if it does something wrong. I mean no disrespect to anybody seated around the table, the European Parliament occasionally goes off on a tangent from time to time and produces reports that are not in our interest, although I shall not go into it in too much detail. I believe that we should work with what we have. We have an agenda to chart the agreement that this part of the island needs to ensure the future of the island of Ireland, as we have already repeatedly stated. We are not watering that down. We are not taking advice from anyone on how to do so because we know what to do.

Finally, I am always irked when people say "we will get the best deal that we can". That is a sign of defeatism before one starts. Who enters negotiations with a mindset to get the best deal that one can? Immediately one's opponent will say: "We will limit the best deal that you will get from here on in." I firmly believe that the world is our oyster. I believe that we can get a better deal than we had before, without a shadow of a doubt. We hope that a reconstituted Assembly in Northern Ireland is established as quickly as possible with a view to ensuring that we have the assistance that we need in this part of the island to achieve our goals.