Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that the Minister has kept us informed of the meetings happening within the Department. Speaking from an Opposition perspective, I say that we need more briefings from officials to other parties and groupings in the Dáil. I am not just talking about the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but of all relevant Departments. That aspect needs to be strengthened, in particular coming into March and April.

My party is linked to the ALDE group in Europe, which has seven Prime Ministers or EU member states. We meet regularly and will travel to a meeting at the start of March. Most parties and groupings want to help in this. Some very small parties welcomed the Brexit result as a workers' revolution, which was total nonsense, but this is a major threat. Other parties and groupings are willing to help and are helping. It is important that we have a consistent message as a country and the way to get it across is through more regular official briefings outside of normal committees such as this one. That is just a point; it is not a criticism.