Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, we will hold firm to the commitments we made and we expect the United Kingdom Government and others to hold firm to the commitments they made. In December, a political agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union that gives us a number of guarantees and assurances - for example, on the common travel area, for ongoing PEACE funding for Northern Ireland and Border areas and with regard to citizens' rights - was reached. I do not think anyone is doubting these at present. They are all very much cast-iron guaranteed. I also used the term "bulletproof" regarding commitments on the Border. In addition, I said it was the end of the beginning and not the beginning of the end, that we needed to be vigilant and that we had to insist that the guarantees we were given were written into the withdrawal agreement. That is where matters stand.

In March, the European Union - all 27 member states together backed by the EU institutions - produced a draft text of the withdrawal agreement, including a protocol on Northern Ireland and Ireland, that put in legal form everything we achieved and secured in December. Last week, the United Kingdom Government produced a paper which represents a small step in the right direction but which I do not believe to be adequate. It is at very best a partial solution to part of the problem. It deals with customs, which is welcome, but not with regulatory alignment, which is essential to avoiding a hard border. In many cases, perhaps not all, regulatory alignment will be required. Even though it is not in the written text of the UK's amendment, it seems to imply that there would be an expiry date sometime in 2021. This is not something we can accept. The whole point of a backstop is that it implies it will exist unless and until there is a new treaty between the EU and the UK that makes it unnecessary. That is where we need further movement and concessions from the UK Government between now and the forthcoming summit. If we do not get it then, quite frankly, nobody will be able to say that sufficient progress has been made. We will need to intensify the negotiations in the months ahead to ensure that happens. What the European Union is very firm on is that we are not going to be in a position to discuss long-term issues, such as the new trading relationship and the new arrangements that will exist between the UK and EU, until such time as the withdrawal agreement and the backstop are agreed.

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