Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try to quickly address them. The capital plan will take into account the vulnerability and the opportunity in the Border area with more investment and that is very much part of the Ireland 2040 plan, the new national planning framework, which will set the context for where the capital spend goes in the next ten to 20 years. I appreciate the Border issue is a nightmare for those living there and that it is weighing heavily on people at the moment. I have spoken to many people with business interests near the Border. I have been very public about our being very firm and clear on the issue and we have worked really hard to get solidarity and understanding. It is not a coincidence that the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Ireland last week to understand the Border, as did Guy Verhofstadt, Michel Barnier and the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs a few months ago. A real effort has been made to issue invitations and encourage people to try to understand why Ireland is so vulnerable in this situation and, on the back of that, why it is so important that we maintain solidarity and unity with the European Union in terms of insisting we get the answers and solutions needed to protect what is important on this island. We will continue to hold that position but we will not have the complete solution on the Border issue by 14 or 15 December.

That is not going to happen. What we will have, I hope, is a lot more clarity around the parameters within which that solution will be finalised and negotiated when and if we move on to phase 2, which will cover future relationships, trade agreements, partnerships and so on. Given what we have been discussing today, we need much more clarity on a solution for the Border that recognises the uniqueness and the unique problems and vulnerability of both Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland as a whole. As I said, some will bring up simplistic solutions such keeping Northern Ireland in the same customs union and, as an extension, in the Single Market. It is not as easy as that, however, because there is of course also a relationship between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. Different people have different views on these matters but we would like a solution that applies to all of the United Kingdom because that would also help with the challenge of east-west relationships. In the absence of being able to achieve this, however, we need reassurance that the challenges on the island of Ireland in the context of the Border will be addressed in way that recognises the realities of the consequences of regulatory divergence between two jurisdictions on the same island. This is in light of the fact that we have been able to work together, particularly in the last 20 years, in a way that has been beneficial for many people and we cannot allow that to be undermined by Brexit.