Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Cox and thank him for his insight. His experience both here and in the European Union is invaluable. With that in mind, I will tease out a few of the points he made and ask him to comment or elaborate on them. We are all conscious that we are surmising or speculating to some extent because Brexit is new territory. Mr. Cox stated the European Union had seized this opportunity to define and redefine. Where does he see Ireland in that process in the sense that we are in a place we have never been before, economically, socially and culturally. We are strongly aligned with the United Kingdom through our geographical location and long history.

Can Mr. Cox see Ireland getting caught in a quagmire of trying to get the best deal from an Ireland-UK perspective? If Brexit triggers change in the whole European model, could we be caught in the turmoil without knowing the best direction to take? We may have an idea of where we would like to see Europe going but would we be better edging in a different direction at this point, in order to maintain markets or the relationship with the UK? Based on what Mr. Cox has just said, we could find ourselves at cross-purposes. How can we negotiate the best deal for Ireland in that scenario?

Mr. Cox also mentioned that whatever deal emerges will have to be ratified by the European Parliament. From his experience there, how much of an influence will that have on what will be put before the Parliament? Theresa May has stated no deal is better than a bad deal from the UK's point of view. She is probably trying to portray herself as a lady of steel who will terminate negotiations whenever she thinks they are going badly. What are the chances of getting to an end deal with the European Parliament taking that line and not passing it? Could it be from the European side that we might end up with no deal?

Mr. Cox spoke about redefining the European Union and revisiting the Lisbon treaty to make some possible alterations to it. Because of our constitution, does he see any possibility of an Irish referendum coming up? Could we become the final stumbling block? It was mentioned here that we could end up in the situation of being duty bound because of our commitments. We could end up in referendum territory, which would draw out the process or even stall it. That would be no advantage to us. The longer we have uncertainty, the worse it is for us. Since 23 June last, the day of the UK referendum, we have suffered because of currency fluctuations and so on. People are talking about Brexit coming down the line but it has started here for many sectors. No matter what kind of deal it is, the sooner it comes the better. Then we will know the ground rules and will be able to move on. Could we end up in a referendum situation, in the opinion of Mr. Cox?