Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are many issues to deal with in a short time. The Polish Prime Minister did raise the question of the rights of Polish citizens who have acquired benefits in Britain since Poland joined. I pointed out that in our case, with a common travel area since 1922, our citizens have acquired rights over all of those years which are far more traditional and extensive than what applied in the case of other countries where people have come to Britain since they joined the European Union. I did say that we would maintain our common travel area with Britain and we would maintain the opportunity of freedom of travel as one of the four freedoms in the Single Market.

I did not discuss abortion with the Polish Prime Minister, nor did we share any tips, nor indeed should any amendment be called one's beloved amendment. All amendments to the Constitution belong to the people, as well the Deputy is aware.

The question that Deputy Burton raised about the children of Polish workers who work here and who live in Poland was not discussed, but we did discuss the part played by Polish citizens here in integrating with Irish people and the fact that Polish is now the second most common language spoken in the country. For that reason I invited the Prime Minister herself to come to Ireland. I also extended an invitation to her Minister for Education to come and talk to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, who is drafting changes for the curriculum in respect of languages and a number of issues that can be raised about Polish being part of our curriculum here where Polish is spoken in homes in Ireland.

We will publish a paper in respect of Brexit. I waited until the forum in Dublin Castle last weekend was completed. I think it was valuable, and while Deputy Adams made a particular type of contribution, I was glad to see him there with the leader of the Sinn Fein Party in Northern Ireland. I take the Deputy's point about the Finucane case. I have asked for a report of the judgment of that. If the Fresh Start agreement is anything to go by, that holds the potential of dealing with this, but the testing is the proof, and I will study the judgment.

With respect to the special status, we have special circumstances, we have a special arrangement, a special peace process, special PEACE funds and special INTERREG funds. These all equate to special status for Northern Ireland. As I said in the Mansion House, across the spectrum there is an opportunity to have all-island solutions in a number of areas. I do not want to single out any one issue, but the issues of water, electricity and animal health all cross borders without physical restriction. There is an opportunity to look at a number of those areas where an all-island solution can be achieved. The real issue here is what the issue is going to be like between the United Kingdom and the European Union, and if Britain wants to have as close a relationship with the EU as possible, that will benefit us and we support that. I made the point to Commissioner Timmermans this morning that I do not think that it is feasible to proceed on the basis of the divorce discussions without having parallel discussions about the reality of the future framework and the future relationship between the United Kingdom and Europe.

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