Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government wants the current arrangements to continue. As I stated in my reply, this is a part of the whole-of-Government approach. My Department is engaged in forward planning for the UK exit from the EU. I remind the Deputy that when the British Prime Minister was in Ireland a number of weeks ago, one of the top items on the agenda was a hard Border.

The Deputy referred to an article in the Irish Examiner that refers to customs checkpoints. It does not refer to the Defence Forces or An Garda Síochána being involved at a hard Border. It refers to customs and excise, which is a totally different conversation about trade between a member and a non-member of the European Union. I assure the Deputy that I met my counterpart in the UK after the Brexit vote and this is one of the issues I raised with him.

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