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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 14, inclusive, together.

I met Prime Minister May in London on Monday last. We discussed the political situation in Northern Ireland and both the Prime Minister and I agreed on the need to have the power-sharing institutions restored as soon as possible. We repeated our strong message to the Northern Ireland parties to redouble their efforts to reach an agreement to re-establish the Executive. We reaffirmed our two Governments' commitment to protecting the peace process and the progress made in Northern Ireland in recent years.

During the meeting we also discussed the ongoing Brexit negotiations and the Prime Minister's speech in Florence last Friday. I indicated that my Government wanted to make sure that the close relationship built up between the two countries in recent years is maintained into the future, although Brexit is clearly an enormous challenge to that.

While the Florence speech contained some welcome elements we need to see more detail and, in particular, we need to see greater clarity on how we are going to avoid a border between North and South. In this context, I welcomed the Prime Minister's clear statement that physical infrastructure would be unacceptable.

Our meeting in Downing Street followed my meeting with the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, in Dublin on 31 August, when we also spoke about the serious issues arising from Brexit. During that meeting I underlined to the Chancellor the importance of making sufficient progress on the phase 1 issues currently under discussion. They are citizens' rights, financial matters, and of course, the unique Irish issues. I also made clear the Government's objective that there should be no new impediments to the all-island economy that has been able to develop over the past two decades and which is a gain of the peace process that benefits communities across the island.

The Prime Minister's speech in Florence contained some welcome elements. I believe greater progress on the phase one issues is needed. I hope that the round of negotiations under way in Brussels can help move things forward and I look forward to meeting with other EU presidents and prime ministers in Tallinn tomorrow.

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