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

My priority is to secure the agreement and not to sell it. We secured a political agreement in December and we will secure a legal withdrawal agreement by October. That is exactly what I am focused on and what the Tánaiste and all of our teams are focused on also. That is what we intend to do.

We need to bear in mind that dealing with Brexit is not solely a matter of considering North-South issues and Northern Ireland issues. They are of paramount importance because they are issues of national interest, but the east-west element is also important. If someone is a farmer, involved in the agrifood sector or involved in tourism, a small Irish SME that exports to the UK or a big multinational company exporting to the UK, actually having the latter in a customs arrangement or customs partnership with the European Union is to our advantage. That must be borne in mind. If the UK can produce solutions that allow us to avoid a hard border, not just North and South but also east-west, that is positive.

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