Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Less than 3% of the staff, six out of 211 whole-time equivalents in the Taoiseach's Department are working specifically on Brexit contingency planning. As we enter a period where the clock is running down on our nearest neighbours regarding its decision on whether to accept or reject the withdrawal agreement, we need to question whether that is the appropriate allocation of staff given some of the scenarios before us that may play out.

It is almost certain that the withdrawal agreement agreed between the British Government and the European Union will be rejected by the Westminster Parliament this evening. It is important to state that no matter what the outcome across the water Ireland's interests need to be protected and defended. The Good Friday Agreement is an international agreement and the Government is a co-guarantor of the agreement which needs to be protected in all of its parts. That needs to be the fundamental principles that define us as we go ahead and try to muddle our way through whatever the outworkings of the British decisions are in terms of Brexit. It is important that there is support and a deeper understanding of what the Good Friday Agreement means right across the European Union, and that is to be welcomed despite some of the narrative that has come from those that are pro-Brexit.

The DUP's position has been reckless. I am on record in the Dáil saying that. It is irresponsible and is definitely not in the interests of those whom the DUP claims to represent in the North of our island. The DUP has gone beyond recklessness to the extreme bizarreness of the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, today claiming that there was never a hard border on the island of Ireland. One could not make this up. As a young lad coming to Dublin on a school tour, I can remember passing Lifford and Aughnacloy and the British Army with its guns and rifles and going through the fortified installations that were on the Border and the army base on each hilltop as we travelled through the countryside.

That is where some of this situation has come from.

When is it the Taoiseach's intention to issue a formal response to the decision that will be taken later this evening in the House of Commons? Will it be tonight after the vote is taken or tomorrow? I raise this in the context of the Order of Business earlier. Given the urgency of this issue and the uncertainty we may be entering into, it is crucial we have an open debate on this tomorrow and that we respect this House-----

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