Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

In respect of the remarks made after the Leeds Castle talks — I believe the quote was something like "reasonable in substance and historic in meaning"— does the Taoiseach still believe the process is imbued with the same sense of optimism or does he think that optimism, in the immediate wake of the Leeds Castle talks, has waned somewhat? Will he indicate what he envisages now as the likely timeframe for developments in the process at this stage? What is his assessment of the prospects of agreement being reached between the parties? Is there any set of circumstances where the two Governments would have to advance their own proposals in the event of agreement not being forthcoming between the parties?

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