Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I personally cannot guarantee anything in these negotiations. My job is to make sure that the agreements in writing between the EU task force and the UK negotiating team take account of Irish issues and Irish concerns. That is what we have been doing to date. However, we have only played the first half of the match. We ensured that everything possible in that first half was achieved. I think there is an understanding in the British Government of the importance of providing reassurance to people in Northern Ireland on issues that go beyond economics.

The text that was agreed on 8 December was not solely focused on economics. It was very strong in regard to citizens' rights, human rights concerns and making sure there was no diminution of rights in the context of fears regarding discrimination. It is a very strong text on those concerns. I had a meeting this week with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, which met here together in a joint committee. We spent quite some time talking about concerns that need to be the focus of negotiations in phase 2 on future and transitional arrangements governing the future EU-UK relationship. I can assure the Deputy that these are issues that are live. We are aware of the concerns. However, I am not sure it is reasonable to start demanding absolutes at this stage, in the middle of the negotiations. What we have in the text is significant progress and we need to see that through in phase 2.

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