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

It is always legitimate for the Opposition to ask questions about the Government's work on Brexit. It is the job of the Opposition to ask such questions and I have no difficulty with it. I do not expect to receive blind support from it, either on the North or Brexit. I ask for support and those with influence at a European level, whether in their transnational party groups or other contexts, to use it. Parties have done this. I acknowledge that the party leaders represented in the House have done it in their contacts with MEPs and the respective parliamentary groups, of which they are members. I am grateful for this on behalf of the Government and the people generally.

On the Irish protocol which essentially is the backstop, there will now be a process of talks which will involve the United Kingdom on the one side and Ireland and the task force on the other. The meetings have been scheduled and will occur in Brussels, which we think is the most appropriate place for them to occur. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and there will be no withdrawal agreement finalised until everything in it is finalised, including the Irish protocol, unless a better solution can be found in the interim. I have seen some commentary suggesting option A and option B, as I call them, have disappeared. They have not. It is still a possibility. It is still open to the British to come forward with option B and option A and if they do, we will examine them. It makes sense to talk about the final status and trade now. We should not agree by any means, but we should talk about the final status and trade precisely for the reasons mentioned by the Deputies.

The east-west dimension and the trade that occurs between Britain and Ireland are important to the economy, the agrifood sector, SMEs, jobs and many different things. We want to conclude a free trade agreement or better with the United Kingdom because it is in the interests of the economy, the people and jobs to do so. It is also possible that in coming to such an agreement we may be able to resolve or largely resolve the issues related to the Border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. One of the things the British have put forward in some of their papers is a customs union partnership.

I do not know what the difference is between a customs union partnership and a customs union, but if a customs union partnership is something very close to a customs union, that would solve many of the problems that may arise between Northern Ireland and Ireland and we could have a bespoke arrangement to deal with the aspects that could not be solved. That is one of the ways it might go but it is impossible to predict at this stage.

The transition period will run until 31 December 2020. No changes will occur therefore until the first day of 2021. The UK has agreed, although this was not its position some time ago, that the acquis will apply during that transition period. The rules of the customs union and the Single Market will apply even though it will have no influence on or say in them. That is welcome because it gives public services, people and businesses the best part of two years to plan for any permanent changes that may take place. I acknowledge that it is very difficult to plan for permanent changes when we do not know what they are. That is why it is important that we conclude matters sooner rather than later.

In answer to the final question, we have not seen any technical solutions from the UK Government that we consider workable. We have made that clear. We will of course consider any technical solutions put forward, but I refer to a report carried out by a committee of the Houses of Parliament which studied this again in detail. It has come to the conclusion that such technology does not yet exist and that is a solid conclusion.

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