Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The framework is set by Article 50 but the Council will oversee it.

Deputy Coppinger asked about the seriousness of the discussions which take place at the European Council. They are serious but the discussion on Wednesday morning took place in a vacuum because we did not have a new British Prime Minister so there was no one to set out what they intended to do. The clock will start ticking when Article 50 is triggered but we need to know the objective and the strategy of the British Government and the new Prime Minister will outline that in due course.

It was then asked who would oversee the negotiations and the answer was that it would be the European Council. It will be necessary to have bilateral or parallel arrangements while the British trigger Article 50 and the discussions take place on Britain exiting the European Union. It is only afterwards that a new framework can be put in place setting out the relationship between the UK and the European Union and, as a consequence, that of ourselves, Northern Ireland and the UK. When the exit is completed, the new framework will be known and will be a reality, rather than a theory to be introduced at a later stage.

This will be very complicated and will take a great deal of time. We will see to it that we give everybody in this House full and up-to-date information so that we can make a decision as to where we want to be in the future.

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