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

If the Deputy reads what has been agreed to in the negotiating mandate, he will see that the special position of Ireland is being recognised in every dimension the Government sought. He has complained that the Government did not start out with a strategy. We had a very clear strategy.

We set that out at the time to protect the peace process and the common travel area and to ensure we did not have a hard border. We sought to ensure that we guaranteed in so far as possible the protection of trade. Those were the goals of Government at that time and they have now been adopted not just by the European negotiating team and Michel Barnier, but also by the European Council itself. The UK has also recognised the importance of these issues. The strategic goals we set have been adopted not just by the European Council but by Britain, which puts us in the best possible position to negotiate the solutions we want. While, of course, we are only at the start of a negotiating process, this mandate very clearly bears the marks of the work of the Taoiseach and that is to be welcomed.

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