Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps we will look back on history and see that a mistake was made last December in respect of the first agreement that was set whereby we would have an arrangement for Ireland, North and South, which was not accepted by the DUP, which insisted it be broadened to include some arrangement with the UK. Perhaps we would have been better to stick with the original deal because it does not seem to me likely that the European Union will accept "a" customs arrangement which would allow the entirety of the UK and Northern Ireland the benefits of such a deal without committing to regulatory alignment and so on. I would be interested to hear the Taoiseach's thoughts on this. Does he think the end outcome may be that we will revert to that original deal, which I think was agreed on the Monday of that week in December, whereby we will agree customs checks in effect at ports on the island of Ireland? I would be interested to hear his thoughts on the likelihood of our getting a deal whereby east-west customs arrangements would get similar special provision that we are seeking on a North-South basis. When I listen to Monsieur Barnier now, I think that is highly unlikely. Perhaps we should have been more honest back in December to stick to the original Monday deal.

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