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

I said a number of things about the UK-EU joint report which was agreed in December. The contents are there in black and white for everyone to see. The language used is one of commitments and guarantees - commitments and guarantees written in black and white. I also said it was the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end, and that we would need to stay vigilant, focused and engaged as we moved into phase two. That is exactly what we have been doing. We are now seeking that those commitments and guarantees written in black and white in the December report are written into the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, which will be legally binding. What we are working on at the moment is making sure those commitments and guarantees that were agreed back in December are made legally binding by writing them into the withdrawal agreement.

That is the work we are doing in the background at the moment. We are also beginning work on the transition agreement because we want to make sure there is a transition period during which Irish people and Irish businesses have time to adjust to any permanent changes that may take place. That is what we are working on at the moment. It is significant that the work being done at present is on the withdrawal agreement, making those commitments legally binding, and the transition arrangement for the period after the UK leaves the EU. We are not into talks about trade yet because we believe it is important that we prioritise the withdrawal agreement and the transition phase and making sure that what was agreed back in December is written into the legal text of that agreement.

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