Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to follow through on the points made by the Taoiseach in his answer. Right now, the European Parliament is debating its comprehensive resolution. It is interesting to hear Deputy Ryan talk about bilateral discussions on key elements of what would be a new acquis. The European Parliament points out it would be contrary to European law for any individual country to have any such bilateral discussions and that it can only be done on a unilateral-multilateral basis through the 27. Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator, speaking in the European Parliament today, said very incisively of the trade agreement that the devil will be in the detail. There is no expectation that this will be done within the timeframe. The reality is if there is no deal and no withdrawal agreement there will be an automatic disorderly exit on 30 March 2019 which is now under two years away. Does the Taoiseach expect there to be a withdrawal agreement within the two-year timeframe? Does he expect that subsequent to that there will be a transition agreement? Is it his understanding it is what will currently be worked upon? What sort of a timeframe does he envisage for transitional arrangements before the complete exit from the European Union, the end of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and the full severance of connections between the United Kingdom and the European Union?

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