Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The reason I set up a specific Cabinet committee, which I chair, is that the European Council decided that the political oversight of the negotiations conducted on behalf of the European Union by Michel Barnier will rest with the European Council, that is, the leaders - prime ministers and so on - of the governments of the 27 other member states. Every Minister feeds into the Cabinet committee and, as needs be, Ministers are asked to respond in respect of the challenges Brexit presents to their Department, line Department or whatever. We have people in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who have skill in diplomacy and other areas and, as I mentioned yesterday, we have a range of skills available to the Government to deal with the issues that arise.

Deputy Burton spoke about the difficulties and rigours. Negotiations have not even started yet. Since last October, people have been calling on the British Government to give clarity. What we needed was an understanding of what the proposition will be for the future relationship of the United Kingdom with the European Union. We have a declaration from the British Prime Minister as to what that means. We now have to consider that once Article 50 is triggered.

Article 50 is a simple article which states that once a letter is received by the European Commission indicating an intent to leave the European Union, there are two years to carry out negotiations. If, at the end of the two years, negotiations have not been completed, the country in question will no longer be a member of the EU.

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