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

I thank all speakers for their contributions, some of which have been helpful, in particular, Deputy Brendan Howlin's. It was a reminder of the consequences of not having devolved government in Northern Ireland for everyday life in the provision of health care and education and dealing with many other challenges. If a severe weather event was to cause devastation in Northern Ireland, we simply would not have politicians to make decisions and would have to rely on some of the incredibly dedicated public servants I have met there in recent months who are trying to keep the show on the road but who are not geared up to making the political decisions necessary for policy interventions.

I will split my comments into three areas, on which there has been commentary - Brexit, our efforts to have a devolved government and an executive up and running, and legacy issues.

On Brexit, it is important to stress that the negotiations on the future relationship and to finalise a withdrawal treaty have only just begun; therefore, there are different perspectives that, at times, sound contradictory in the context of the commentary we hear from Westminster, which is frustrating for everybody. However, we have to operate on the basis of the negotiating teams on behalf of the British Government and the European Union through the Barnier task force. The European Union's position on its understanding of what was agreed to politically in the joint paper in December has been published in draft from. It is going to all member states right now for commentary and I suspect it will not change at all or, if it does, it will be minor. It will certainly not change on the Irish side on the Irish issues. That will be the basis for the European Union to progress between now and October a finalisation of the withdrawal treaty or agreement. While the British Government and the DUP rejected what they regarded as an EU interpretation of a commitment made in the joint paper in December and stated they were constitutional concerns - something I do not accept - that reaction was not that unexpected. The European Union will maintain solidarity and focus in the legal language published which reflects our understanding and the collective understanding of the Union of what was agreed to in December. If the British negotiating team and the British Government have a different interpretation, let us hear it. Let us see it and have it as part of the negotiations which have yet to begin to finalise a withdrawal treaty, as well as a transition period and a framework agreement that could result in a future relationship. I suspect the agreement will happen at some point in the next two to three years because that is how long a detailed FTA finalised between the European Union and the United Kingdom will take.

Our perspective and interpretation is that we have cast-iron guarantees on what was agreed to in December as regards the outcome, which means no hard border, which means North-South co-operation and a functioning and protected all-island economy. One cannot reinterpret a statement that states we will provide an absolute guarantee that there will be no hard border, no Border infrastructure and no associated checks or controls. That is categorical in terms of a commitment from the British Government, from which it is not resiling.

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