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

Obviously when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, Northern Ireland will leave with it. That is a statement of fact, as everyone knows. The draft backstop, as published in March, means that, to all intents and purposes, Northern Ireland will stay in the customs union and the Single Market. Even at that, it is not as straightforward as that. It is the full regulatory alignment and the application of the rules which allows us to avoid a hard border and continue to protect the all-island economy. The document has been published since March. I do not think the Deputy should need me to interpret it for him at this stage.

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