Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that the common travel area precedes the European Union and, as such, hopefully it is not threatened by Britain's decision to withdraw from the Union. That gives it a separate status and that has been recognised by all sides.

On the question of financial institutions and the permit arrangement that now has to be switched from the UK to Europe, which I welcome, are there different grades of financial alignment between the UK and the EU that might emerge and could create additional need for provisions? One of the issues that is not finally nailed down is how our financial services in the UK passport, or whatever the term is, into Europe. To some degree, that remains an issue on the table in terms of nothing being agreed until everything is agreed. I speak in terms of contingency planning. Obviously, a high level of integration would presumably be best for us, but do we have to consider different contingencies in this area and do we know how that might impact on Irish security markets and the capacity of Irish companies to raise money?