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

I do not want Ministers from this Government meeting Northern Ireland Office Ministers. I would rather see Ministers from this Government meeting Ministers elected by the people of Northern Ireland to discuss these matters.

To respond to the first group of questions asked by Deputy Pearse Doherty, I absolutely agree that this Government is neither an observer nor a commentator. It is a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has been unbelievably engaged with this issue on the Government's behalf. He must have spent at least two days a week in Northern Ireland over the past four months. When he is dealing with the parties in Northern Ireland and with the UK Government, he speaks for me and the whole of the Irish Government. I have been far from hands off in my approach. I have met all the parties. I have met the DUP and Sinn Féin twice. I met the leaders of the DUP and Sinn Féin on a one-to-one basis - without officials - so that we could speak honestly and off the record. I speak to the Prime Minister every two weeks and I will speak to her again on Friday. I have travelled to Northern Ireland on three occasions since my election as Taoiseach. I have been to Belfast and Derry and I was in Enniskillen just last weekend. My analysis of the difference between Sinn Féin and the DUP is much closer to that of Deputy Micheál Martin than that of Deputy Pearse Doherty. I do not think this is about rights any more; I am of the view that it is about trust and terminology. It is almost a Swiftian situation at this stage. If people knew how small the difference is, I think they would be quite shocked in some ways.

See this speech in context