Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her address and for her sterling work in recent months on the domestic front and on the European stage. She covered seven issues in her address and within that there are probably around 1 million sub-issues. In that context, I will focus on just one pressing matter but before doing so, I wish to commend the efforts the Department has been making in terms of the debate on the future of Europe. I wish the Minister of State the best of luck in Donegal tomorrow night and urge her to drive safely.

I will focus on Brexit and a number of key questions and issues that have arisen in the last fortnight. In terms of the negotiation guidelines that will come out of the European Council meeting later this month, as Deputy Haughey outlined, Mr. Tusk has referred to the first stage of the free trade area negotiations. The initial guidelines run to six pages but the final text of CETA runs to 1,598 pages. When does the Minister of State think we might see a little bit more meat on the bones? Do we have a concrete timetable for the trade negotiations?

In terms of the most recent suggestions regarding a customs border, avoiding a border on the island of Ireland but also within the United Kingdom as a whole is a joint priority of both the UK and the EU.

We should consider the legal manifestation of the political agreement reached in December, the option C backstop, which I absolutely do not believe will ever be needed. I never want to see it being used. In this regard, I would be much more optimistic than Deputy Haughey. However, the draft text to be agreed at the European Council meeting was very much the representation of the European side. I refer to the European interpretation as it related to paragraph 49 of the political agreement. Do we, or will we, expect a British alternative as it relates to paragraph 50, maintaining there is no border within the United Kingdom as a whole? If so, when do we expect that? We expect a lot from the British side but we have not got much from it so far. This frustration is shared across this State and in the remaining member states. Do we expect a timeline for real suggestions for option B, the supposed imaginative solutions? I do not believe there are any.

The suggestion by Prime Minister May that the US–Canada border might be a solution is downright laughable. I visited that border on a number of occasions, and the Taoiseach visited it in August, and I noted it is absolutely not an acceptable proposal. We need to be very firm with the British side that we will take its suggestions very seriously, but that those suggestions, in turn, must be serious in themselves. That response has to come from the European side. A number of people, particularly on the British side, have suggested it is time that Dublin started to negotiate directly, be it with Belfast or London. That would be the most detrimental approach the Irish Government could take. Our strength is our solidarity. We are remaining within the European Union and the European family. That is probably one of the wisest decisions we will make. We must continue to negotiate as Europe. A direct London–Dublin negotiation is not in our interest. Our best option is option A, a deep and meaningful customs and trading relationship. That can be achieved only on an EU–UK basis.