Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Part of the concern businesses have is that this statement that we need to see a road map is very vague. While I take the Minister at this word that the Irish Government's position has not changed, to the businesses and to many of us looking on at the negotiations, it appears that the Irish Government's position did change because in October, the position was that insufficient progress had been made but just last week the Taoiseach said he now expected the talks to move on to phase two in December suggesting that he believes sufficient progress would be made. Does the Minister agree with the European Commission's position that should the UK insist on leaving the customs union and the Single Market, it is inevitable that there would be border controls and as such, on the basis that we are all agreed that there can be no border controls, is it the Irish Government's position that if the UK in December insists that it is still going to leave the Single Market and the customs union, the Irish Government will at that point deem that insufficient progress has been made?

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