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

The Deputy correctly quoted what I said in December on the joint report and on the agreement we struck between the EU and the UK last December. I also said that we had to be vigilant and that we would be. We have been. I also said that the next step was to turn that joint report we agreed last December into a legally binding withdrawal agreement. For months and months I heard critics in this House tell me and the Government I lead that we oversold the deal that was made in December. We did not. It, including the Irish protocol, was translated faithfully into the legal text of the withdrawal agreement as we promised would happen. The next step is to secure ratification by Westminster and the European Parliament. That is still possible. That is what we are working on now. We will have a meeting of the European Council on Thursday and Friday. It will be an opportunity to engage with Prime Minister May and for me to speak to my colleagues. Indeed I will be taking a call from President Juncker later today to see what assurances we can give the United Kingdom Parliament that might assist it in ratifying the withdrawal agreement. That cannot mean a change in the substance of that agreement, including the substance of the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, however. That is what we are going to work towards.

I do not believe that now is the time for us to start talking about Border polls. I understand the perspective of the Deputy's party, which is committed to the territorial unity of this island. That is an aspiration that most of us in this House share but this is not the time to go about it. There are people in Northern Ireland who know that the backstop is a good deal for them. That is why it is being supported by business, farmers and many civil society organisations in Northern Ireland. To now inject a constitutional dimension into this debate would be destructive and disruptive because there are people who are arguing against this agreement precisely because they believe that having special arrangements around regulations for goods somehow weakens the union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. We know that is not the case. There are many special arrangements for Northern Ireland already. In so many areas, from social policy through to agricultural regulations, Northern Ireland is already different from Great Britain. Another example is that, before the institutions were brought down, they were seeking autonomy over corporation tax. Northern Ireland can have differences and still be part of the United Kingdom just as there are differences between all the countries in the European Union. I really do not believe that stirring up tensions in Northern Ireland or turning this issue into one of orange versus green is at all helpful at this time.

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