Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to make some closing remarks. I will start by agreeing with Deputy Lisa Chambers in that we are very lucky to have such a wonderful team working with us and on our behalf at the Irish Embassy in Brussels. We also have great people at all of our embassies throughout the remainder of the EU and across the various Departments here. Like all of us in this House, those to whom I refer are under no illusion regarding the challenges we face with Brexit and they are working towards the best possible outcome for Ireland.

As the Tánaiste stated earlier, the Government is continuing to engage intensively with the EU task force and our EU partners with a view to achieving the necessary progress in advance of the June European Council meeting. However, it is important for our EU partners to hear such a clear expression of Ireland's priorities from across the whole political spectrum. In that context, I thank all of the Deputies for their contributions. The overwhelming sense of concern shared by everyone in Ireland regarding the challenges posed by Brexit, allied with the exceptionally high and growing support for Ireland's membership of the EU, has certainly struck a chord with many of our EU partners. This reflects the fact that a key pillar of the Government's response to Brexit has been to underline a firm commitment to the EU membership and to work together with our EU 27 partners to build a very positive future for the European Union. In that regard, I very much welcome the opportunity that I had two weeks ago - on the occasion of Europe Day - to address this House and the Seanad on Ireland's wider EU priorities. I also welcome the citizens' dialogue on the future of Europe, which has enabled the Government, the people of this country and Deputies to engage with people of all ages and from all sectors in order hear their views about the Union and its future direction.

I attended the General Affairs Council last week with the Tánaiste and I fully echo his reflections from earlier this afternoon. Michel Barnier and our fellow EU member states remain fully behind the principles that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and that negotiations can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken so far are respected in full. That is certainly reflected in my own engagement with European colleagues from France, Sweden, Estonia and recently Greece and Latvia. To answer Deputy Cullinane's question on what we want to see from the June meeting of the European Council, I note that the EU, Ireland and all of us are very firmly of the view that significant progress is needed on the outstanding issues relating to the withdrawal agreement in advance of the meeting. While we can discuss the future arrangement and while we wish to hear discussions on it, the withdrawal agreement is first and foremost in our minds. This not only includes the draft protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, it also deals with other issues that are of fundamental importance, namely, the overall governance of the withdrawal agreement.

There has been a very strong message of support for the approach being taken by Michel Barnier and the task force. There is a very clear recognition on the part of the EU partners that, regardless of any evolving proposals in the context of a wider future relationship agreement, a workable version of the backstop must be included in the withdrawal agreement. The Tánaiste has said that the UK has agreed that a backstop solution for the Border will and must form part of the legal text of the withdrawal agreement. The issues identified in the draft protocol, as proposed by the EU, will be addressed in delivering a legally sound solution to the Border.

The UK has not yet officially put forward any alternative proposals. Although since meeting with Prime Minister May last week we have heard some more detailed proposals, we need to see these put forward in a satisfactory way. It is vital at this stage of the process that the UK engages in more detailed and realistic ways in the draft text of the protocol on Northern Ireland, particularly in dealing with the backstop.

I will be travelling with the Taoiseach to the European Council in June, which will return, in particular, to the remaining withdrawal issues, including the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, with a view to assessing whether satisfactory progress has been made or, if not, what consequences it will have for the overall negotiations given the timeframe we find ourselves facing. This Government looks forward to further engagement with this House in advance of and after that meeting. I certainly look forward to the continuing support of all of the Members of this House. We all strive for the best outcome for the people of Ireland and for those we represent. That means avoiding a border on the island of Ireland, protecting the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement and ensuring as little disruption as possible to the lives of our citizens and to the trade and business on this entire island.

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