Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Mr. Tutty 100% and I agree with the Department on this one. The principle should apply. Rules were rules at the time and one cannot start changing the rules afterwards with the serious consequences that would have.

There is a reference in the fiscal council's report to the Brexit fallout and a stability programme update, which is based on a hard Brexit. I hate the terms "hard Brexit" and "soft Brexit". It a comfort blanket that the Irish people are being surrounding with at this time. The North is either out of the customs union and the Single Market or in them. The version suggested in the fiscal council's report is that it is more likely that it will be a hard Brexit. I presume the reason it has used those definitions is that it provides more clarity that it would be out of the customs union and out of the Single Market.