Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The Secretary General and his team in my Department deserve commendation for the work they did in regard to Brexit over a period of time, as do the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and others. Our objectives were achieved. We do not like Brexit and we think Brexit was not a good idea. What we need now is to do a deeper analysis of how Brexit is working out in practice, both in terms of Britain and the British economy, and how that will impact us. The early signs are of significant reductions in trade levels and the question is will that be sustained. We see a dramatic increase in direct routes to the Continent. We do get early signs of a change and we need to be very hands-on in terms of analysing and keeping on top of that because it will affect our SMEs and will affect our economic relationship with Britain.

There is still a lot of work to be done. We have managed to land it in a zone which is the best possible scenario in terms of our objectives, given the fact there is trade co-operation agreement and a no-deal has been avoided. I would prefer even greater alignment in some areas between the UK and the EU but a better relationship is developing and that is working. Recent meetings between David Frost and Maroš Šefovi have been positive so far but there is a lot of work there too in terms of the EU-UK relationship. From Ireland's perspective, a strong, constructive, positive relationship between the EU and the UK is something we eagerly desire because it would benefit us as well.