Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree with Deputy Smith's comments. When I met the Prime Minister in Downing Street, she said clearly that the British Government did not favour a return to a hard Border. She does not favour a return to a hard Border and neither do we. We will argue these fundamentally important matters forcefully and clearly, as suggested by the Deputy. The Secretary of State, Mr. Brokenshire, told the Conservative Party conference today that there is no intention of having a return to a hard Border. These clear statements need to be backed up.

It has been decided that while the European Commission, which has always dealt with applications to join the EU and in which the expertise is lodged, will be centrally involved in the negotiations on Britain's withdrawal from the EU, the European Council - the Heads of Government and Heads of State - will make the ultimate decisions here as the elected leaders of member states. These decisions will have the greatest impact on people in the various member states, including Ireland. Obviously, in light of what is at stake here, we will have a facility for knowing about every step of the discussions as they take place. The European Council will make those decisions.

At the moment, a lorryload of machinery can leave Clare and go to Dublin or Rosslare before travelling through Britain and on to the EU's border with Ukraine without anything other than invoices being needed. It is clear that if and when Britain leaves the EU and becomes a completely independent sovereign country, having implemented legislation that removes any EU jurisdiction on it, paperwork or a different kind of approval might well be needed if Irish cargo is to be able to travel through Britain. This would cost time and money and would have obvious implications for jobs. That is why the common travel area, which the British and Irish Governments want to retain, is so important for us here. It is in that context that we will have to see what issues Britain is talking about and will present.

I do not have enough time during this Question Time to deal with many of the implications of this long and complicated subject, as raised by Deputy Smith. We will have ample opportunity to discuss it in the House in the future. I will also have opportunities to brief party leaders about what is going on. I would like to think that by November, when we get to the North-South Ministerial Council, we will have a much clearer fix on where the horizon is and what we need to do in respect of Northern Ireland, the cross-Border links and the economic trade. We have been talking to Enterprise Ireland about the hundreds of thousands of small businesses here that are being affected by the sterling currency fluctuations, which are causing concern. We will have to talk to Europe about the implications of that.

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