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

I will try to answer as many of the questions asked as I can. The joint report agreed by the EU and the UK - Ireland is of course part of the European Union team - was agreed on Friday last. It is my intention to endorse it in Brussels at the European Council on Thursday. It is a political agreement so it is more than a statement of intent. It is politically binding. As a political agreement, it sets the parameters for the UK withdrawal agreement, which is legally binding. Therefore, this is a political agreement between the EU on the one hand and the UK on the other. It informs the content of the UK withdrawal agreement which will be a legally binding international instrument.

It is worth recalling two important sentences from the joint report. The last sentence in paragraph 43 states: "The United Kingdom also recalls its commitment to the avoidance of a hard border, including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls." That is the definition the EU and UK have made of a hard border - no physical infrastructure, no related checks or controls. Paragraph 46 states: "[The commitments] are made and must be upheld in all circumstances, irrespective of the nature of any future agreement between the European Union and United Kingdom." Therefore these are commitments which must be upheld in all circumstances irrespective of the nature of the final agreement between the EU and the UK. While people in different places for all sorts of reasons will put their own complexion on what this report means and does not, I will quote from the black and white text because that was hard negotiated and very much defends our position.

However, as I said on Monday, this is not the end; it is only the beginning of the end. I said on Friday that it would be very important for us as a Government to be fully engaged and vigilant when it comes to phase two. That involves the withdrawal agreement, phase two, new treaties, the drafting thereof and the ratification thereof. Brexit is not sorted; it is just starting. There is a long way to go yet.

If the schedule is adhered to - it may not be but I think it will be - the United Kingdom will leave the European Union in March 2019. There will then be a transition period for roughly two years. There will then be a new relationship. This is something that will go on at least until 2021. During that period it will require from this Government the same level of engagement and vigilance we have shown in the past year. It will take a lot of politicians' time, civil service time and Government resources. However, it is something we have to do and very much intend to do.

I was asked about the EU-UK new relationship, the final status relationship if one likes, after 2021. I was interested to learn that the United Kingdom Cabinet is meeting this week to consider that and I will be interested to know the outcome of its deliberations as to what the United Kingdom would like to see its new relationship with the EU look like. Our view is very much that the relationship that exists between the European Union and the UK should be much as it is now. We never agreed with Brexit as a policy; we do not think it is a good thing. Therefore, of course, we would like a new status, a new relationship between the EU and the UK, resembling as much as is possible what we have now. That is very much the position we will feed into in determining the EU position, which has yet to be done. We will have to agree guidelines for the second phase of negotiations and that has not been done yet.

Deputy Boyd Barrett is correct on one level: there will be different views across European capitals on this. Some people in other European capitals will be less enthusiastic than we are about maintaining the status quo. We also cannot ignore the fact that they might have a point. Some of those countries will say it is not right that Britain should continue to have all the benefits of the customs union and all the benefits of the Single Market while leaving it and having none of the responsibilities, costs or obligations. We have to listen to that argument because that is a fair point. The European Union will fall apart - or may fall apart - if countries can pick and choose, if they can have the benefits of membership but none of the responsibilities, obligations or costs.

While I absolutely want to retain free trade as it exists now between Britain and Ireland and between Britain and the EU, crucial to making free trade happen within a free-trade bloc is that free trade must be fair. I do not think we can have unfettered free trade with a neighbouring country or a third country that has lower labour standards, lower health and safety standards, inferior animal welfare standards, reduced environmental standards or engages in state aid. The European Union happened in the first place to ensure we could have free trade across Europe, but also so that we could have the same harmonised basic and minimum standard to ensure that trade was fair.

These are all things we will have to consider as 27 member states in developing guidelines for the final status agreement. That is where the whole concept of maintaining full regulatory alignment is at its strongest. "Maintain" means to keep as it is now, full and not partial alignment, making sure that our rules and regulations are line with each other. While I have heard some comment on alignment, we sought legal advice from the Attorney General on it. Alignment is a term used in European law and European treaties. It is the specific term used in accession treaties. When countries apply to join the European Union, they have to align their rules and regulations with the acquis communautaire, with European law, before they join. Maintaining full alignment after a country leaves is in many ways something similar but, of course, that is the backstop option and there are two other options as well.

In terms of the ongoing negotiations, as part of the joint report we have agreed that we will retain a dedicated Irish stream throughout phase two because of the unique issues that Ireland faces that have not gone away. They are still relevant and that is why we have that written into the joint report.

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