Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Donnelly for his questions and will begin by saying the December agreement is the agreement we expect to see honoured in full by the British Government. The Taoiseach had an opportunity to discuss Brexit with the British Prime Minister when they met in Belfast last week. On that occasion, they both reaffirmed the two Governments' shared commitments to the December agreement on Irish issues.

As Deputy Donnelly correctly outlined, work on developing the withdrawal agreement, including the relevant and important sections on the Irish issues, is very much ongoing. These provisions were welcomed, including by the Deputy, when they were achieved in December. They are very important to this country and must be delivered on in full. The Irish Government is continuing to work very closely with the EU task force on implementing the commitments that were made in December through the withdrawal agreement. This includes the fallback or default scenario. We expect this backstop option to be given full legal effect as part of the withdrawal agreement. At this juncture it is not appropriate for me to comment on exactly how these issues are reflected in the withdrawal agreement, a process that is still ongoing and is at a sensitive stage. However, we as a Government are in very regular contact with the task force, and I can tell the Deputy, the Dáil and more importantly the Irish people that we are fully satisfied with how these issues are being managed. We are fully satisfied that full legal effect will be given to the December agreement in any withdrawal agreement.

I will now specifically address the Deputy's two questions. Yes, we are fully satisfied that full legal effect will be given to the backstop agreement. This is not just an agreement between Ireland and Britain but an agreement between Britain and the EU. Through our very regular contact and ongoing engagement with the task force we are satisfied that the agreement must be honoured in full, and we expect that to be reflected in the withdrawal agreement.

On the second issue, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the commentary of individual Members of the British Parliament or individual members of the British Government, because Ireland is not negotiating with Britain. Ireland is negotiating as part of the EU task force. The EU task force is negotiating with the British Government. We should take encouragement as citizens from the solidarity being shown to Ireland by EU member states. My colleagues the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs and indeed all members of Government continue to highlight the importance of Irish issues to EU colleagues. We are very encouraged by the fact that we have seen so much solidarity from other member states.

I appreciate that we are at a very sensitive stage in the negotiations, and I appreciate that a very sensitive and complex discussion is going on in the British Government, upon which it would not be appropriate for me, as a member of the Irish Government, to comment. However, the Irish Government is satisfied that full legal effect will be given in the withdrawal agreement and we do not see any question of that being in any way watered down, diluted or changed.

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