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

The intergovernmental conference can be convened only at a date that is agreed by both the British and Irish Governments and such a date has not yet been agreed. That is not to say that we are not in regular contact, however. I have spoken twice on the telephone to Prime Minister May in the past ten days and we have also met in person.

I recognise the constructive and measured approach taken by the Deputy's party to the Brexit issue in recent months. What we have seen today is the publication of the draft withdrawal agreement by the European Commission. The first thing the Government sought at the time of the Brexit referendum was a commitment from the UK Government that there would be no hard border and that eventuality would be avoided. We got such a verbal commitment some time ago under the leadership of my forebear, Deputy Enda Kenny. In December, we sought to have this commitment turned into a commitment in a political agreement and it was written down in black and white in the December text. Most reasonable people will now accept, even though others said otherwise, that it was not over-hyped or oversold. People will see the reality of that today in a legal text, a protocol to the draft withdrawal agreement, that sets out exactly in black and white how we can avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and how we can enforce that legally. That has been done and the text has been published today. A briefing will be available later today for Opposition leaders and spokespersons if they wish to have one.

It is not the case that this is the only option. This is the backstop and last resort, as Prime Minister May describes it. There are alternative solutions. The alternative solution is option A, which is our preferred option and the preferred option of the British Government, that involves us avoiding not just a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland but also a hard border between Britain and Ireland. I do not want a border between Letterkenny and Derry any more than I want a border between Larne and Stranraer or Liverpool and Dublin. We want people and trade to be able to move freely. Option A is still an option. It is now incumbent on the United Kingdom Government, in particular, to put forward detailed proposals on how it can be achieved or put forward the detail of option B.

The Deputy is correct that hard line Brexiteers and some politicians in Northern Ireland will say "No" and will be angry at what they see today but just saying "No" and being angry is not enough. If people do not like what they see today, it is incumbent on them to come up with alternative solutions and to flesh out option A and option B, write it down in a legal form that can be enforced and then we can negotiate on that. We have between now and October to make those decisions.

With regard to the different messages that may be coming from UK Government, when I want to know what it thinks, I listen to Prime Minister May. I have spoken to her on three occasions in the past ten days. She tells me that her government stands by its commitment to avoid a hard border and it is steadfast in its support for the Good Friday Agreement. I trust Prime Minister May on both of those counts.

See this speech in context