Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister accept that the onus is primarily on Ireland to try to charter a way forward? There has been considerable commentary in other member states to the effect that they want Ireland to bring forward ideas and potential solutions. I know it is very early days and the vote was taken less than a week ago, but can the Minister indicate to the House some timeframe as regards when he plans to put the analysis together and draw some conclusions? The treaty was supposed to be in place from next January. Clearly, the timescale is very short. Can the Minister give us some idea of the framework he intends to put in place to come up with some solution to move the process forward? I do not expect him to outline the exact timeframe.

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