Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Howlin for his consideration and care.

This weekend's summit is an important moment as Europe works to create some shape and direction out of the dark, chaotic and destructive Brexit vote of 2016. If things go as well as possible, the withdrawal treaty will be agreed and will then go forward to the United Kingdom and European Parliaments for ratification. While this would be very welcome, it is important that we do not waste this rare, full debate on Brexit by ignoring the fact that not only is the short-term outcome uncertain, there is still no clarity on many long-term issues. Even more importantly, Ireland is today well behind where it should be in preparing for the inevitable impact of Brexit.

A fully agreed and ratified withdrawal treaty will be, at best, the end of the beginning. We will still potentially face years of negotiations and damaging uncertainty. As we saw last year, overemphasising interim agreements, however welcome they may be, breeds a damaging complacency. It serves no useful purpose for us to waste our time here commenting on the ignorant and clownish behaviour of some Brexiteers. In meetings in different contexts, I have experienced the Brexit advocacy of certain of the loudest Tory Europhobes. It is clear they have no interest in rational discussion. Just like fundamentalists of all varieties, the more their ignorance is exposed, the more fanatical they are in their advocacy. I would go so far as to say that we have, as a country, spent too much time in the past two years feeling indignant about the dishonesty and ignorance of many Brexiteers. Some of this time and space would have been better spent on a more questioning approach to our national preparations for Brexit. There is simply no way of looking at the hard facts of preparations and missing the gap between the rhetoric and the reality.

The motion before the House will have no legal impact. The position of the majority in this House is well known and we are not in a position to ratify a text which has not been finalised or sent for ratification. It is the explicit policy of Government that the Dáil does not give it a negotiating mandate as we have seen in the Government’s dismissal of the Dáil’s views on matters such as the Middle East. In spite of this, we will of course be supporting the motion and we have already expressed our support for the draft text in our discussions with our European partners. I agree with the Tánaiste in terms of giving a simple message from the House. It was my understanding that it was to be a simple motion. We could all table amendments, emphasising this and aspects of the Good Friday Agreement and so on, but I think there has been an attempt just to support withdrawal treaty as negotiated – the draft agreement. I think that is the intention of this motion, that there would be unanimity from this House that we support this text, that is, the withdrawal treaty.

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