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

Relax, Deputy.

It is accepted that the next few years we will be dealing with one of the most complex challenges that has ever faced this country and the Irish public service. As I said earlier, we succeeded in getting our overall concerns recognised in the general guidelines. That has played to our traditional strengths as a country and to our public service. The next phase, which we have discussed, is the more difficult one of generating and promoting concrete solutions to our priorities across a range of technical discussions. That needs to be upped a gear significantly. It is one thing to say we have concerns here and there but what are we saying to our partners in Europe? These constitute a solution and solutions to the particular problems.

Last year, a review of staffing and roles concerning Brexit in the Department of the Taoaiseach was promised but there has been no sign of it. The Minister might follow that up. It is a serious issue for us. In our view the level of dedicated staffing for Brexit is nowhere near where it is required.

On the Brexit transitional arrangements, there is almost no circumstance other than the UK remaining in the Single Market, where there will not need to be some form of transitional arrangements. It is absolutely going to happen. It may be that the new found flexibility shown by the British negotiators in Brussels yesterday means that they are now willing to seriously engage with the idea of transitional arrangements. That will require a continued budget contribution and some jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, ECJ, during the transitional period. In our view, while the transitional agreements are likely for the overall UK-EU settlement, they should also play a significant role in the provisions for Ireland. In terms of the well-being of communities and businesses, the longer the period, the better.

Can the Taoiseach outline to the House his policy on this matter and what he said to Prime Minister May on this yesterday? Did he get a sense from her that she accepts the necessity for a transitional agreement to facilitate not only Ireland and Europe but British businesses and jobs, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer articulated, quite forcefully in recent times, the necessity for Britain to start getting real and pragmatic about it? From the Taoiseach's visit with the Prime Minister yesterday and from what he picked up, did he get a sense that the idea of a transitional agreement is now gaining far more traction than heretofore?

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