Ms Mairead McGuinness:

The European Parliament, Council and the Commission supports sequencing. The Deputy has missed the following piece. It has been mentioned that if sufficient progress is made on the three issues we will look at the transition plus the trade agreement. It is not as if one must be finished before negotiations begin on the other. A more nuanced approach must be adopted.

The European Parliament would like to debate the new trading partnership by October of this year. We cannot let the UK off the hook. It opted out of the European Union, which will have a clear impact on us. We cannot say to the UK that we will sort everything out in its direction. I have had frank discussions with David Davis on this issue and know that he understands the EU's perspective. I do not share the entire optimism of Deputy Durkan right now nor Deputy Ryan's pessimism. I believe that if all of us, as elected representatives, and the UK look to the rights and needs of citizens first we will work through all of the structural issues to formulate a deal that works for people, business and communities. That is what we are paid to do.