Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is correct. I do not think the British realise the impact of the conditions. There will be significant resistance in the pro-Brexit press when it finds out that Britain will have to comply with EU trade policy right up to 2021 and will not be able to strike its own deals during the transition period, despite losing access to agreements with 50 countries once it leaves the European Union in March 2019. That is, of course, if the European Union decides to authorise access to the trade deals for the United Kingdom. It is likely that the transition agreement will allow the United Kingdom access to the EU trade deals, but no doubt it will come at a cost. Obviously, the longer the transition period, the better for us. I still subscribe to the view I stated in the House about 15 months ago that this and another Dáil will sit before we will see the end result of this process.

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