Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I raised with the Taoiseach the so-called customs partnership being considered by Mrs. Theresa May and its lack of fitness to resolve issues relating to the island of Ireland. Last week saw another week pass without any viable proposal being put on the table by the British Government. After successive defeats in the House of Lords, the departure of several Ministers, and several splits in the British Cabinet, the only certainty is that the British Government is at sixes and sevens and still has not carved a defined path forward.

Based on developments at the weekend, it seems as though the Tory party is more divided than ever and divisions are deepening. That is largely their own business, except that it affects us in Ireland in a very real way and it is of increasing concern. There is a proposal on the table, namely, the backstop, which Theresa May agreed to, which would ensure that the North remained within the customs union and significant elements, although not all, of the Single Market, avoiding the need for an EU border on the island of Ireland.

Is it not now incumbent on the Taoiseach to state categorically that an agreement on this matter needs to be concluded in June and that dragging things out to October is not an option? We need clarity now more than ever because the British Government is in disarray. Without agreement on the legal text relating to the backstop agreement this whole edifice could come crashing down without any agreement being reached. There is a prospect of that happening.

Despite this, may I say it is utterly regrettable that Arlene Foster and the DUP have not faced up to the real dangers that Brexit poses and that they continue to toe the line of the hard Brexiteer rump of the Tory Party, which has absolutely no interest in Ireland, North or South. The DUP leader's comments at the weekend ignored the democratic wishes of the people of the North. In fact they misrepresented them because the people voted to remain within the European Union. For the record, I therefore regard this approach by the DUP to be absolutely reckless and unacceptable.

My question, which I have put to the Taoiseach before, is where does he stand on this matter and what needs to be achieved by the end of June in his view. I have set out our view. Now I want to hear specifically what the Taoiseach believes would represent an acceptable level of progress to arrive at by the end of June.

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