Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to say how much the Government regrets the fact that the parties in Northern Ireland failed to re-establish an Executive. People in Northern Ireland voted for devolved Government. They voted for home rule and because of the parties' inability to come to an agreement, that is not the case and they are being governed again by civil servants and British politicians. As well as that, there is no unique elected voice for Northern Ireland at a critical time in terms of Brexit. It is a shame that an agreement has not been made. Talks are now paused for the marching season and the summer break, but I hope and anticipate that talks can be successful in September when they resume.

The Government has been very engaged. As the Deputies know, I met with the DUP and Sinn Féin. I am currently scheduling meetings with the other parties in the next couple of weeks. I am very keen to do that. They were invited to the official dinner last night but were not able to make it, so we are trying to find another time to have meetings in the next couple of weeks.

I have had four engagements with Theresa May in person and on the phone. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has been in Belfast for most of the past three weeks representing the Government. Both the Prime Minister and I as Taoiseach stand ready to take part in these talks. However, we agreed there was not a particular moment when such intervention would have made a key difference in the past. It has often been possible to bring the parties together with the help of funds from the guarantor Governments. The funds were made available this time by Theresa May through the agreement with the DUP, in addition to funds made available previously. The key problem as to why we do not have an agreement in the North is the inability of Sinn Féin and the DUP to trust each other. That is very unfortunate.

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