Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

President Tusk has been a consistent and strong friend of Ireland since his time as Prime Minister of Poland. He has been an excellent President of the EU Council and I believe he has handled Brexit extremely well. As the final deals will be settled at summits, he will be central to what is finally agreed. In this context we need some clarity about the timing and nature of any final deal on the withdrawal text concerning Ireland.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach said that a nameless someone was confused about whether the target was October or June. The one-and-only person who has caused confusion is the Taoiseach himself. At the 22 March summit the Taoiseach stated unprompted at a brief media stop that the issue could slide to October and that he would be easy about that. The Tánaiste has refused repeated requests to confirm what the Taoiseach said and he has not repeated it. Indeed, the Tánaiste has said the opposite on several occasions. It was news here at the time and throughout Europe and it has been cited by the UK Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis, repeatedly as a justification for not showing urgency about a June deal. The Taoiseach's refusal to acknowledge his personal role and his attempt to use attack as his primary defence is noteworthy. In order to be clear, will the Taoiseach tell us exactly what he means by the need for "substantial progress" on the text by June? I asked the question again yesterday. Does this mean a mostly agreed text? Does it mean another letter from the UK Prime Minister, Mrs. May? Does it mean a political declaration reaffirming what has already been affirmed? What is the minimum acceptable progress required in June to avoid the need for accelerated emergency planning for a no-deal scenario?

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