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

It is important for people to understand how these negotiations are actually working. There is a negotiation to conclude a withdrawal agreement and there is conversation just starting on what a future relationship might look like. That conversation will go on way beyond October. There is no question of there being a free trade agreement signed off on by October. The best we can hope for is to have a withdrawal agreement by October which then gets ratified by the European Parliament. Then there has to be some sort of framework agreement which sets the parameters within which we can get a future trade and future relationship agreement negotiated signed off over time. The European Union cannot even legally negotiate a free trade agreement until Britain is out of the European Union because it cannot negotiate for one with a member state.

It is important not to fudge and merge these two issues into the same debate. What we need is a withdrawal agreement which has an Irish backstop in it. The British Government has agreed to do that. Then, we will have a future relationship debate, which, hopefully, will result in the backstop being unnecessary because we will have an option A which does not require any borders, North, South, east or west. We have to have the assurance mechanism and the backstop in the withdrawal agreement just in case that is not possible. We are on our way to doing that.

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