Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that recently there has been a significant amount of coverage of the Brexit negotiations, but there continues to be little hard detail about what has been agreed. The practice of ongoing commentary caused many problems over the past year and it is understandable that the EU side is determined to allow maximum room to manoeuvre in the discussions. There is a desire to try to create some space to allow people engage in negotiations without megaphone diplomacy. It is noteworthy that Tony Connolly's piece last Saturday suggested that our Ministers had been asked to stop constantly commenting and making political points during the latest phase of discussions.

From what we can see, it seems clear that there is a deal on the table with the organisation of its choreography in London the outstanding issue. The London Government has secured its main objective of having a buffer of access to the customs union until it is ready for an alternative to seeking to maintain control of when it should exit that union. Britain staying in the customs union is good for Ireland because there has been a lamentable lack of focus on the east-west axis. Our trade with Britain is critical and the idea of Britain staying in the customs union is one that should be encouraged, and for longer than some in the British Parliament would wish.

On the deal specific to Northern Ireland, the British Attorney General is reported as being prepared to argue that the wording is flexible, that the withdrawal treaty is, by definition, not capable of permanently binding the United Kingdom and that the backstop is capable of being ended if the United Kingdom so desires. As a result of a motion currently before the House of Commons, the advice of the British Attorney General will be made available. I understand that the British Government recently decided to make its legal advice available to the Commons. Our Attorney General was in Brussels last week to examine the proposed wordings. There is a real possibility that there will be one wording on the backstop but two contradictory legal interpretations as to what it means. It is entirely conceivable that the United Kingdom Government will insist that it can end the backstop unilaterally while our Government will state that it cannot. We may have an agreement with multiple interpretations.

Will the Taoiseach assure the House that he will, at the very least, make available to it the same level of information that will be available to Members of the United Kingdom Parliament, namely, the legal advice? We cannot have British parliamentarians having more information available to them than is available to their Irish counterparts. If there is a deal, will the Taoiseach commit to delivering full information on the legal implications? Will he also commit to publishing an immediate update of economic forecasts of the implications of what is agreed? Brexit has already had a significant economic impact on Britain and Ireland. We have a right to know the best estimates regarding its future impact while the agreements are being discussed and not merely after they have been concluded.

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