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

Deputy McDonald may be getting a little bit muddled on the detail. In December, there was a political agreement. The UK Government has been very consistent that it stands by the political agreement that was made in December. The UK Government made the agreement in December and reaffirmed it in a letter from Theresa May to President Tusk in March. In fact, the UK Government reaffirmed it again in the paper produced from Chequers on Friday.

The backstop text was produced by the EU 27 in March and the UK Government has never accepted the text. Negotiations will have to continue on the detail of that. As we have said, and as all 27 member states have said, there will be no withdrawal agreement without an Irish protocol, without a backstop. Even if we can agree the parameters of the future relationship in October, we will not be able to negotiate a full, detailed, complicated new treaty between the UK and the EU. It will take the entire transition period, if not longer, to negotiate that. That is why we have to have a protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland in the withdrawal agreement. Those in the UK Government understand and accept that. They did so in December, by letter in March and reaffirmed that again in the statement from Chequers.

The Deputy asked about a future summit and that is possible. The 28 Heads of State and Government will meet for an informal EU Council meeting in Salzburg in September, hosted by the Austrian Presidency. A chance occurred to us here on Sunday and I discussed with those responsible the possibility of upgrading that meeting to include a formal discussion on Article 50. That is a possibility and I know it was discussed between Prime Minister May and Chancellor Merkel as well. It is too soon to make that judgment call but it is certainly an option. We will all be there together in Austria on 20 September and it might be a good time for us to all talk together about Brexit, but we will make that judgment call nearer the time. It is an obvious opportunity for us to have a further Article 50 Council meeting should it be advisable.

I have set out what we aim to achieve: keeping the common travel area in place, no hard border between North and South; and minimising the impact on free trade between Britain and Ireland. These have been our objectives since the day the referendum votes were counted. They are our objectives still today and I believe they can be achieved.

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