Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State to be truthful when she gives her interpretation of what is happening in respect of England leaving the EU.

We were given the impression before Christmas by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste that all was rosy in the garden and that there would not be a hard border. I do not know how or where that interpretation came from because it seems that everything is still up in the air. I believe the discussions should be between Ireland and England and between Europe and England to ensure we do not have a hard border. It will hurt farming, especially in rural areas, and it will hurt small businesses exporting to the UK and to the North of Ireland. The Government needs to put pressure on Prime Minister May to come clean and to make a decision sooner rather than later.

All this is not helping our cause. Britain needs to be cornered - that is the word - and made to come clean as to what it is going to do. The Taoiseach is now saying that he will fight and more or less put it up to Prime Minister May. I hope he will. I believe, however, that the Government should also be trying to encourage the British Government, and indeed the Labour Party, and have talks to see if there is any way another referendum could be devised that would give people in Britain a chance to vote again. Many of them voted the last time purely against the establishment and are sorry now about the outcome of the referendum. I met my own cousins and I asked them about this. They said they had all voted to get out of the EU but if they got one half of a chance, they would not even have to be asked much, they would all vote to stay.

We hear people like that, that we know, and are perhaps surprised at their vote in the first place to get out. That is what I am asking because it is hard to see how we will not have a hard border and how that can be devised. People need to be told how that will be arrived at. The Government now needs to pull out all of the stops and do its best for this country because we are depending on it and the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee. We appreciate what is being done but pressure needs to be kept on to ensure we get what is best for Ireland.

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