Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo Deputy Boyd Barrett's concerns about the ongoing situation in Palestine, the siege there and the continued breaches of international law by the State of Israel.

Returning to Brexit and the imminent deal, there have been several waves of discussion and negotiation regarding the Irish protocol. The initial position held by the British Government, notwithstanding commitments into which it had previously entered, was to contest the notion that there is a need for a specific backstop for Ireland. We have come through the discussion regarding the backstop's scope. While it was ongoing, there were those - Government and others - that held steady in insisting that Northern Ireland is not as British as Finchley, that we have particularly Irish concerns and needs which must be met and that, therefore, a bespoke solution and insurance policy are required.

We then moved to the question of a backstop's duration. Tension emerged between the British demand for a something that would be temporary and the Irish demand for something enduring. Many Deputies argued that temporary protections are no protections at all. I understood that we were all on the same page in respect of these matters. In our dealings with the British Government, Michel Barnier, Guy Verhofstadt and others, we went to great lengths to reiterate our position, which we believe to be commonly held across the Irish political landscape. Then the Taoiseach began to talk about a review clause and mechanism. I am deeply troubled and puzzled by that. Will the Taoiseach explain what this is and its provenance? I want him to consider the following points. First, in any review clause or mechanism, this State, and whoever is in Government, will not be a direct party to such a review. Second, I assure the Taoiseach that even thinking out loud about the concept of a review offers the Tories the prospect of these being temporary little arrangements. Third, we all spoke of achieving stability and certainty for our politics, society and economy. By definition, review mechanisms prolong uncertainty. The Taoiseach was wrong to raise this. Has he conceded a review mechanism? Will he clarify if a review mechanism is part of the deal that is on the table? I cannot understand why he shifted substantively the Government's position at this point in the negotiations. Has he seen the review wording? Has the Attorney General similarly viewed words that constitute a review clause, as Deputy Micheál Martin has suggested? If the Taoiseach has agreed to this, why has he done so? If he has not, then why was he thinking out loud along these lines? At a time when we require clarity of purpose, a singular focus, steadiness and sticking to the bottom line in the context of this country's needs, the Taoiseach has wavered. His words and actions in this are very dangerous.

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