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

As I said at the European Council in March, it is absolutely my preference to reach an agreement as soon as possible. An early agreement is in the interests of our citizens, who want certainty, and in the interests of business, which needs to plan for changes that might take place in the future. Of course I want to have an agreement as soon as possible. I am not going to make concessions in order to get an agreement as soon as possible. I want to get the best agreement. If it takes a little longer to get the best agreement for Ireland, so be it. Under the guidelines agreed by the EU 27 in March, the deadline is the October Council in Brussels. That is when we hope and expect to sign off on the withdrawal agreement. It is understood by the EU 27, including Ireland, and by the UK that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. If the text of the backstop were to be agreed in August or September, it would not actually be agreed until everything is agreed.

The deadline for that is the summit in Brussels in October. It is important to bear in mind why that deadline was put in the guidelines. It is because the withdrawal agreement and backstop require approval of the UK Parliament and the European Parliament. Therefore, we believe five months - November, December, January, February and March - is adequate time to allow both to ratify any agreement.

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