Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the Deputy that this is without question the most significant challenge to face the country in many a day because the impact will not be transient but long term. I hear from the Taoiseach’s reply that there is a close relationship with the British Government but I have to question to what degree there is close engagement between the two Governments because of what is emanating from the British Prime Minister.

I welcome the civic forum, I suggested it at our meetings and think it is a very good idea to listen to civic dialogue on an all island basis. Nonetheless, Prime Minister May’s decision to exclude Northern Ireland from permanent membership of the cabinet group overseeing Brexit should cause real concern and raise immediate warning signals. The group has 12 permanent members, including the Tory party chairman, but the Northern Ireland Secretary of State is simply to be called in from time to time. It is clearly more important for the Tories to manage their internal affairs than to follow up on the commitment to give top priority to the huge impact of Brexit on the island of Ireland.

What specific steps have been taken to follow up on the promise of close co-operation with us in the Brexit negotiations? As we speak, the cabinet sub-committee is considering the idea of work permits for non-British citizens. That raises the prospect that anyone going from Ireland to Britain to work in the foreseeable future will have to go through a work permit regime. Scotland is looking for a halfway house between membership of the European Union and of the UK. That may very well trigger a Scottish independence referendum if the choice is a hard Brexit versus a soft one. That is a very real concern. It is also being suggested that Britain may try to have a deal with Europe on a sectoral or geographic region basis. The Mayor of London has been very clear about asking whether it is possible for London to have a separate arrangement with the European Union.

Much of that is fantasy. What is of major concern is the statements made by Ministers and the Prime Minister at the Tory party conference because that all speaks to a hard Brexit and a World Trade Organization, WTO, type trade deal, which would mean tariffs on Irish beef and many other products going into Britain, and would be the worst possible scenario that could unfold.

I put it to the Taoiseach that all the language we are hearing is of the wishful kind such as "We all want a soft Brexit" or "We do not want any hard borders between the North and the Republic". Obviously, we do not want the latter but saying it is not enough. We are saying that things will work out on the night but, increasingly, we are getting the wrong story in the sense of what is coming out of Britain. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is now being cornered and identified by the Brexiteers as someone who is asking too many awkward questions, that he is not pro-Brexit, etc.

We need to up our game in terms of our relationship with the British Government and I put it to the Taoiseach that he needs to seek a formal summit meeting with the British Prime Minister to lay on the line our perspective on it and to try to ascertain the real story in terms of the island of Ireland and Brexit, and what the British Government intends to do in terms of the European Union.

See this speech in context