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

It is important to say that Brexit is not the Government's policy. It has never agreed with it and regrets that the United Kingdom has made the decision through the referendum to leave the European Union. Before that decision was made, this country was planning for how it would need to respond to protect core Irish interests and British-Irish relations in the context of Brexit. Last week was an important step forward in getting a text agreed, but there is still a long way to go on this. I hope the withdrawal treaty is supported on Sunday by EU leaders and subsequently supported in the House of Commons, but there is still a future relationship to negotiate which will take at least the next two to three years. Ireland will have to continue to be vigilant and try to mitigate the unintended consequences of the fallout of Brexit.

Many people have been far too quick to start jumping past the time when the Parliament in Westminster makes the decision and are assuming the worst. We should not do that. We should spend the next couple of weeks explaining to people and reassuring them as to what is in the deal. We have spent two years putting it together. It is a good deal for Ireland, the UK and the EU. It captures the complexity of an economy the size of the UK leaving the European Union and tries to deal with a whole series of competing and complex questions to do with that. Instead of focusing on contingency after a failed vote in the House of Commons, we should be talking about how we talk this up to maximise the chances of it getting support in the House of Commons, which is what the Prime Minister is doing.

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