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

While Ireland is the member state most affected by Brexit, others have very real concerns. I know from my own discussions with the leaders of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, ALDE, in The Netherlands and Denmark that they are supportive of Ireland's position and remain so, but they also expect us to understand their concerns.

They are supportive of Ireland's situation and remain so. They also expect, of course, that we would understand their particular concerns. It was a very worthwhile engagement by the Taoiseach with the Prime Ministers of both countries.

I do not know whether the Taoiseach is aware of today's ruling from the European Court of Justice in regard to the free trade deal with Singapore. It is quite interesting because it essentially means that any proper trade deal with the United Kingdom will have to be ratified by the parliaments of every member state, and maybe the regional parliaments as well, because the free trade agreement with Singapore cannot be agreed by the EU as an entity in itself. Rather, it must go back to the parliaments in member states. That relates to the jurisdiction of the investor class or the resolution of disputes, as well as non-directive foreign investment. It means we will have to get to specifics sooner rather than later and move away from the generalities on which we have been focused thus far.

I do not know whether the Taoiseach read Sunday's interview with Secretary David Davis. He raised a lot of red flags. First, he said the status of an EU citizen in the UK should be left until later in the process. He raised the possibility that such citizens would not have their current rights protected, which almost guarantees a veto at Council level. Second, he said that discussions on the Irish Border would have to wait until the new trade agreement is defined. This poses an enormous problem for us and dramatically increases the uncertainty.

Given all of this, can the Taoiseach outline very specifically the timetable and the process by which Ireland will table its proposals for how cross-Border relations will be handled? We know Ireland is a priority, but what does this mean in practice and how does it reconcile with what Secretary Davis has said?

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