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

First, as the Deputy will be aware, I invite constructive criticism on Brexit in order that we can get this right on behalf of the country. This issue is not party political for me and never has been. However, I will not accept people trying to misrepresent what was agreed to yesterday as a lack of progress when all of the informed commentary was welcoming of the step forward. If anything, the political pressure is certainly not on the Government in what was agreed to yesterday. The point I am making is that it is clear from the Barnier task force on the withdrawal treaty that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. What we are saying is that we will have to get agreement on the backstop to ensure it will be legally operable and agreed to between the British and the EU negotiating teams. Without the backstop agreement in place, there will be no withdrawal treaty and no transition arrangements which will be part of the withdrawal treaty. The language is clear. It states the backstop "should be agreed as part of the legal text of the Withdrawal Agreement, to apply unless and until another solution is found". In other words, what we have said and what the Taoiseach has reinforced repeatedly is that we have a cast iron guarantee linked with the negotiations in ensuring there will be no physical infrastructure in Ireland linked with the Border and no associated checks or controls, in line what was agreed to in December. We are figuring out and negotiating on the basis of the European Union's draft legal text, on the back of which the United Kingdom, of course, wants to negotiate. If it brings forward proposed changes, we will, of course, look at them, but the backstop will be place. That is the important issue.

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