Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union provides the legal framework for withdrawal by a member state. The British Prime Minister, Mrs. May, has said that she intends to trigger Article 50 not later than the end of March next year. An agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom on British withdrawal has to be concluded within two years. Further negotiations on a future UK-EU relationship are going to be particularly complex and multifaceted and may well last considerably longer. I should be clear that in preparing for Ireland’s participation in future negotiations, the Government’s priorities remain the same, namely, to protect the interests of our citizens, with particular regard to Northern Ireland and the peace process, the common travel area, North-South and British-Irish trade and co-operation and our economy. It is also essential that we contribute positively to the debate on the future of the European Union itself.

Given the cross-cutting nature of the EU-UK dossier, a number of divisions within my Department are devoting a considerable share of their resources to the key issues involved. They include the EU division, the Ireland, United Kingdom and Americas division, the legal division and the trade division. The overall departmental effort is led and co-ordinated by the Secretary General and by the Department’s management board, a sub-committee of which meets on a weekly basis.

With respect to the Article 50 negotiations, the EU division of the Department, which was re-established further to a Government decision in July, is leading on preparations, within the framework of the whole-of-government approach to Brexit, which is led by the Department of the Taoiseach and to which I referred in response to a previous question from Deputy Crowe.

Now that we have the beginnings of a concrete timeline for Article 50, our work on analysing the implications of a UK exit from the European Union, which began over two years ago, and on preparing for the Article 50 negotiations has intensified. There is daily contact with the Department of the Taoiseach and there is also close engagement with other Departments, many of which have established Brexit teams. In addition, there is also daily contact with our permanent representation in Brussels.

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