Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Follow that, as they say.

In this very important week, I want to raise the issue of Brexit. Tomorrow and the next day, we will see the text that will give effect to the agreement struck between the European Union and the British Government last December. The Taoiseach will recall at the time of its publication we acknowledged some political progress had been made. However, we raised a series of contradictions inherent in that agreement at the time and I want to place them again on the record of the House.

The first contradiction was the claim there would be no hard border on the island of Ireland but yet the North would be taken out of the customs union and the Single Market. The second contradiction was the assertion there would be no threat to the Good Friday Agreement against the fact there are 142 areas of all-Ireland co-operation that could be adversely affected by Brexit. Contradiction number three was the claim there would be no erosion in the rights of citizens living in the North as against the fact the British are determined to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

The fourth is that although the North voted to remain in the European Union that decision has been set aside by the British Government, the DUP and others.

In the conversion of December's political agreement into a legally binding withdrawal text it is critical that these contradictions are resolved. That is the only way to achieve clarity and certainty for our people, the all-Ireland economy and for our agreements. That means the text must explicitly state that there will be no Brexit border on the island, and the only way to guarantee this is by the North remaining inside the customs union and the Single Market. The text must explicitly protect the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and it must make clear in substance that there will be no loss of rights for citizens. The Tánaiste met with Mr. Michel Barnier in Brussels yesterday and he has seen the draft legal text. He is quoted widely today as saying that he is more than satisfied that the Irish Government and the EU are of one mind on the draft text.

Have those four contradictions been resolved? The Taoiseach said previously that this country cannot take a leap into the dark when dealing with matters connected with Brexit, and I agree with him. Can the Taoiseach confirm, therefore, that the text we will see resolves all the issues I have set out and, in real terms, represents the legal protection and guarantees we need?

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