Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This may or may not be my last interaction in the Chamber directly with the Deputy as Taoiseach and in case it is I want to acknowledge the work he has done over the last few years. I may not always have agreed with it but I certainly want to acknowledge that he has worked very hard over the last few years.

Article 50 stipulates that this requires an enhanced qualified majority, which is a vote of 20 of the 27 member states and those member states representing more than 65% of the EU population. That is the existing article but there is no reason, given Ireland's not only unique circumstances but unique exposure to Brexit, we could not have sought, by agreement, a veto on that only as it pertains to Ireland and specifically on the separation of the Border with Northern Ireland and what will happen there.

With respect to the future relations, the reality is that Spain did achieve a veto. The Government's line to date has been that everybody has a veto and, therefore, Spain's veto is just a restatement of what it has, Ireland has a veto and every member state has a veto. However, on 16 May the European Court of Justice made a ruling on the new free trade agreement with Singapore and it states that the European Commission has competence. In other words, no member state can exercise a veto on a wide range of areas, including market access, investment protection, intellectual property protection, competition, sustainable development, transport, road transport, rail transport, waterways transport, public procurement, non-direct investment, institutional provisions, notification, verification, mediation and so forth.

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The European Court of Justice ruling only found two specific areas where member states have competence. None of us knows but it is possible that the separation agreement could be bundled into areas where the European Commission has competence; they are wide-ranging and directly affect our relationship with the United Kingdom and jobs in Ireland. If they are bundled, it is possible we would have no veto. If that were done, Spain would still have a veto as it has a veto on the agreement in totality as it pertains to Gibraltar.

Given the exposure we have and that words are just words - we had words in July 2012 on bondholder burden sharing but nothing happened - why did the Government not at least seek a veto? We all understand we may not have got one. Why, given that Spain sought and got one did the Irish Government not at least seek a veto on any aspect of the Brexit talks as they pertain either to the separation or any aspect of the future relationship?

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