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

All things going to plan, we intend to offer a briefing to party leaders and their teams this evening and offer a similar briefing for the SDLP, the Alliance Party and the Green Party in Northern Ireland tomorrow morning.

It is important to remember what the backstop is. It is not our preferred solution but, rather, a fallback or insurance policy. The joint report published in December of last year outlined options A, B and C. Option A involves resolving the issue of the Irish Border in a new future relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom. We will try to negotiate that during the transition period. Option B related to UK-wide specific solutions, but in many ways that is now the potential for an extension of the transition period if required. Option C is the backstop which would only kick in if options A and B were unsuccessful. The backstop must be in place and legally operable. It cannot have an expiry date and it must not be possible for one side to withdraw from it unilaterally. It is important to appreciate that it is our intention that the backstop should never have to be invoked. If it is invoked, that should be a temporary measure until a new agreement is put in place to supersede all or part of it. However, it must apply until that is the case.

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