John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Verhofstadt and thank him for his contribution. I noted with interest his comment that the EU would never allow Ireland to suffer from the UK's decision to leave Europe.

We greatly welcome that. We are presuming Mr. Verhofstadt speaks on behalf of the EU negotiating team and that is what we are pinning our hopes on. However, he stated that the solution in respect of Brexit has to come from the UK. Unfortunately, those two positions are not compatible and they have not been compatible for the past 15 months. There is nothing the UK Government has done that gives any bit of solace to us that the solution will come from the UK. Along with all of my colleagues, I believe that if Mr. Verhofstadt can take one message from his visit here today, it is that we are depending on the EU to ensure that Ireland, as the country most exposed to this decision, does not suffer. If we are depending on the UK to come up with a solution, as Mr. Verhofstadt said, that simply will not happen. We have to proceed on the basis that it is the EU's responsibility to protect us, and that is what we need it to do.