Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous work done by the Taoiseach and many others across the Government, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and other Ministers, and by many throughout the public service.

A fair and balanced judgment of the negotiating mandate would recognise that we could not be in a stronger position than we are in terms of the letter from Downing Street and the recognition it gave to the concerns about Irish issues, the protection of the peace process, the common travel area, opportunities for trade and so on. That is further enshrined in Article 11 of the negotiating mandate agreed to at the weekend.

The European Union has set out very clearly the issues of unique concern to Ireland and openly recognised the Good Friday Agreement and the need to recognise what it means for Northern Ireland into the future. It has recognised the need to avoid a hard border and its importance, not just economically but also politically and for the common travel area. It recognises that those prior agreements such as the common travel area that were part and parcel of our arrangements before the European Union was established are recognised as legal instruments and have to be taken into account in the negotiations.

The Taoiseach and his team have put us in a very strong position. Not only that, significant work has been done in examining every sector of the economy and building on the basis of what we have achieved to date in order to make the economy resilient in order that we can meet these challenges. Today the CSO has recognised that the level of unemployment is now 6.2%. Over 200,000 extra people are back at work. This has been achieved through a consistent approach by the Government to diversifying our exports, strengthening innovation in the economy and enhancing the enterprise base of the economy. These measures are vital.

I rarely hear speakers from Sinn Féin say how important it is that we sustain the economic resilience that was built so painstakingly because that essentially is the way in which we will be able to respond creatively to the challenges. It is very encouraging to note that the European Union has stated that, in view of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, flexible and imaginative solutions will be required, including the aim of avoiding a hard border, while respecting the integrity of the legal order in the Union. The European Union went on to state that, in this context, it should also recognise existing bilateral agreements and arrangements between the United Kingdom and Ireland which are compatible with EU law. The European Union could not have gone further at this point. We all know that we are embarking on a challenging period of negotiations and that we have to have the resilience and flexibility to respond as the situation develops. I can assure Deputy Gerry Adams that the Government has put a lot of preparation into ensuring we will be in such a position.

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