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

I thank the Taoiseach. I was in Brussels last week where I met seven Prime Ministers and four Commissioners as part of the ALDE group, when we had a particular meeting. Many people said to us that Ireland's approach to the Brexit negotiations is one where we have to move from talking about the problems to proposing solutions. I had meetings with officials as well. It is fair to say that there is a significant appreciation of Ireland's position in Europe and we will be able to win support for measures which allow us to protect the common travel area and to limit the damage and the administrative barriers at the Border, although there is a great need for specifics on that. However, beyond that, there is no obvious progress or even any proposals on the table. The Government's Brexit document sets out broad policy objectives with limited detail. When will this change? When will we be given any insight into what the Government is asking for in terms of the right to support badly hit industries or to subsidise businesses in respect of the cost of Brexit-related regulations?

The pace of bilaterals has increased but the evidence is that we are spread too thin and simply do not have enough people working on what will be a 27-way negotiation. We do not have the level of staff required to maintain active bilateral engagements throughout these negotiations. We also do not have the right staffing to deal with the fact that we have to approach UK relations in a different way post-Brexit and have to have a new approach to Council meetings. Has a staffing audit been carried out in respect of diplomatic and expert staffing needs for bilateral relations? If not, will the Taoiseach agree to carry one out urgently given the enormity of the challenge ahead?

See this speech in context