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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 18, inclusive, together. I met the leader of the DUP, Mrs. Arlene Foster, on 15 October when we discussed many issues, including the current political situation in Northern Ireland and Brexit. I emphasised the Government's full commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and our continuing determination to secure the effective operation of all of its institutions. We discussed what could be done to get the institutions in Northern Ireland up and running again. I reiterated to Mrs. Foster that the Government wants to put a political process in place that can secure an agreement on the operation of the devolved institutions and that we will continue to engage with the British Government and the political parties in Northern Ireland to seek urgent progress with that in the period immediately ahead. We agreed that we can continue to build on existing practical North-South co-operation. We also discussed Brexit, including negotiations on the backstop to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The Tánaiste and I met Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Alliance Party and the Green Party on 15 November to brief them on the draft EU-UK withdrawal agreement. We had a good discussion on the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland and considered how the backstop arrangements guarantee that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland in any circumstances. We also noted that these arrangements offer the opportunity for Northern Ireland businesses to have unfettered access to both British and EU markets. We agreed to meet again in a similar format.

See this speech in context