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

It is important to point out that if it is concluded, the agreement will be between the EU and the UK. Ireland is part of the EU but will not separately sign up to the agreement. However, any changes to the agreement will be made through the European Council of which, of course, Ireland is a member, in the form of the Taoiseach.

I accept the Deputy's points regarding things being done in a timely manner and note his comments on the phone call to the Prime Minister, Mrs. May. Members should bear in mind that Cabinet meeting will begin at 2 p.m. and may not be finished by 5 p.m. We will have to see how this plays out over the course of the day. We want to be able to give Members the text as well as a briefing on the text. However, I remember the furore when the German Parliament saw elements of our budget before our Parliament did. That must work both ways. We have had enormous support and solidarity from other EU member states and institutions throughout this process and I do not want to put documents which members of other parliaments have not seen into the public domain. It is very important that this is all done at the same time and done by Brussels.

I wish to put on the record of the House that this is a difficult time for the unionist community in Northern Ireland. Many unionists may be feeling vulnerable, isolated or quite worried about what may be agreed in the coming days. I wish to say to them that the Good Friday Agreement will be protected.

That includes a recognition of the fact that we respect the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom and the principle of consent, which is that there can be no change to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland unless a majority of people there say so. We are very happy to have that written into any agreement because it gives the unionist community a legal guarantee.

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