Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will explain the way the Barnier task force works. He has a group of very experienced technical negotiators. They interact with our ambassador in Brussels and our team there on a daily basis. I would say that our team there is almost interwoven with the task force on the Irish issues. They will continue to interact on the complex issues that need to be worked through next week and probably the following week. There is no question of hiding anything from Ireland. We are very much part of these discussions. As anyone who has been involved in negotiations will understand, it is when the most sensitive and difficult issues are reached that the negotiating teams need to interact with each other, as opposed to publishing papers and making political statements outside the room. The negotiation rooms in Brussels are the place to get this done now.

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