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

At the various meetings concerning the Article 50 negotiations, it has been very clear that other member states appreciate that Ireland is in a unique position and has unique concerns. The other two countries that have border related issues with the United Kingdom, Spain and Cyprus, also have their concerns addressed in the negotiating guidelines. We all welcome this fact as well as the separate support which Chancellor Merkel expressed for Ireland following the Taoiseach's bilateral meeting with her. What does all of this mean in practice? Over the next 18 months we need to set out and have agreed specific proposals on exactly what a soft Border means. May I say, in passing, that I welcome Ms Arlene Foster's comments on a soft Border which reveal that if the Executive had not collapsed we had a mechanism by which we could have achieved consensus in Northern Ireland and to some degree, a coherent voice on Brexit related matters. So far, no specifics have been set out and sources in the Commission have said that Ireland needs to come up with answers and not just point out problems.

The guidelines say that whatever is agreed relating to Ireland must respect the broad European Union legal order and conform with EU law. Does this imply that the Taoiseach will not be seeking any treaty or legal changes relating to Ireland? What if protecting the common travel area or dealing with cross-Border trade does not conform with EU law? Is the Taoiseach saying that we accept these two constraints? In a previous session of Taoiseach's questions, the Taoiseach appeared to commit to publishing a detailed Irish negotiating document but so far all we have seen is a broad statement of principles. We have not seen any specific proposals. Where is the promised detailed set of proposals to which the Taoiseach committed?

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