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

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. We should not forget how we got here. The United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union and its Government set out some hard red lines, that it would leave the customs union and the Single Market, that there would be no freedom of movement, and that they would not accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. The agreement which we came to, after almost two years of negotiation, is supported by 28 Governments. We came to that agreement by drawing it around the red lines set by the UK Government. No other agreement can do that. The UK-wide backstop is there at the request of the UK Government, as the Deputy rightly pointed out. Our original proposal was for something different, with a Northern Ireland-only backstop, which would not apply to Great Britain. Before the UK set out its red lines, there were other options such as "Norway plus", where the United Kingdom would remain in the Single Market and customs union but not in the European Union itself. The agreement we have come to was crafted around the UK's own red lines and contains elements that it wanted, specifically a backstop that would apply on a UK-wide basis and not just to Northern Ireland, which was the original proposal of Ireland and the European Union.

It is essential to point out that the backstop is not just an Irish issue. It is a European issue too. It is there to give us the enduring guarantee that there will not be a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland but it is also to protect the Single Market and make sure that the open Irish Border does not cause the European Single Market to be contaminated. That is why there is resolute and overwhelming European support that the backstop has to remain part of a withdrawal agreement. It is not just an Irish issue but an issue for Europe too, and the integrity of the Single Market which we are all part of.

We have always based our plans on a central case scenario, which is that there would be a deal. We have been doing contingency planning for a no deal scenario. We now need to increase the contingency planning to execution for no deal. That includes putting in place measures for both the central case scenario and the no deal scenario. That involves acceleration of the recruitment of customs officers. We have 200 in the recruitment process already with a panel of 3,000, so we can do that. It also includes recruitment of veterinary officers and health officials. It means putting in place infrastructure in our ports and airports, specifically Dublin and Rosslare, and introducing enabling legislation. Some of that will be done through Brussels and some will be done here in the Oireachtas in the first quarter. Some 70 Commission notes have been published already. We will publish information as we go and will provide briefings to Opposition parties.

Firms which do not have action plans should develop them. Those that have action plans should begin to implement them. There is Government support, whether through seminars, loans or advice. We have had discussions with the European Commission about state aid and what state aid may be available to companies in the case of a no deal scenario. Those discussions are already under way and we have some proposals under consideration as to what could be offered in state aid. That would not kick in unless it was absolutely necessary.

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