Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Helen McEntee, and Deputy Fergus O'Dowd.

This has been a critical week for the Brexit process in the UK. The Government regrets the outcome of the vote in the House of Commons on the withdrawal agreement, though it was not unexpected. A no-deal Brexit would be deeply damaging for the UK, Ireland and the EU. This is increasingly recognised within the United Kingdom, including in Parliament. However, it is important that we do not assume that it will inevitably be avoided.

As President Juncker stated after the vote, what we need from the UK is clarity on how it proposes to move forward and, ultimately, what it wants to achieve. The EU will then consider how to respond. The EU has addressed the issues raised by Prime Minister May in the aftermath of the postponed vote in December. The European Council in December and the joint letter from Presidents Tusk and Juncker earlier this week provided important clarifications and reassurances, including with regard to the backstop. The EU will continue to seek to be as helpful as it possibly can but, as the European Council made clear in December, the withdrawal agreement is not up for renegotiation.

The backstop is an essential part of the withdrawal agreement. It acts as an insurance policy, to ensure that there is no hard border on this island following Brexit. It is essential. Throughout the negotiations, there has been a strong understanding by our EU partners of the need to address the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland. Their support remains firm and unequivocal. The EU has repeatedly said - Michel Barnier was crystal clear on this in the European Parliament yesterday - that there can be no withdrawal agreement without the backstop. This has also been repeatedly recognised by the UK Government, which has also recognised its own obligations under the Good Friday Agreement, to its credit.

For Ireland and the EU, a close and deep future relationship with the United Kingdom is key. This remains our preferred means of ensuring we never get to use the backstop. It will also allow us to continue our broad and multifaceted relationship with the UK in the new environment post-Brexit. While the withdrawal agreement is not for renegotiation, in the context of the future relationship, the EU has consistently said that if the UK chooses to shift its red lines on leaving the customs union and the Single Market, and opts for a more ambitious relationship beyond a basic free trade agreement, the EU would be happy to evolve its position too.

While our focus remains on securing an orderly and agreed Brexit, given the uncertainty in London and the increased risks of a no-deal Brexit, the Government will continue to intensify our preparations for such an outcome. Our number one protection from whatever Brexit brings will be our status as an EU member state, with all the stability, predictability and solidarity that brings. On 19 December, the Government published its contingency action plan, which outlines our approach to no-deal Brexit planning. However, there is still plenty of work to do there. Brexit of any kind will mean change. Managing a no-deal Brexit would be an exercise in damage limitation. It would be impossible in a no-deal scenario to maintain the current seamless arrangements between the EU and UK across a full range of sectors, which are currently facilitated by our common EU membership.

The Government has been planning for Brexit since before the UK referendum and we have taken a number of key decisions to accelerate our Brexit preparations. These plans have been developed on a whole-of-Government basis, co-ordinated by my Department in close co-operation with the Department of the Taoiseach. We outlined our approach to legislative changes required in the no-deal contingency action plan on 19 December. Considerable work has continued to refine and develop this work. On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved the drafting of the heads of one omnibus Bill which will contain the legislative measures necessary to prepare domestically for the immediate impacts of Brexit. This week's decision follows from a series of Government decisions since July to advance various preparations for Brexit.

One of our main priorities is to ensure that east-west trade flows continue to function in both directions. To support this, we have sanctioned staffing, ICT and infrastructural measures for our ports and airports. Ultimately, we estimate that we will need just over 1,000 staff to implement additional customs and sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, checks in both a central case scenario and in a no-deal scenario. Phase 1 of this recruitment has been sanctioned and is well under way. Emergency measures including redeployment and the use of internal panels will be actioned in a no-deal scenario to ensure that the necessary human resources are in place to implement checks.

I look forward to the comments and questions from colleagues from other parties and will try to be as exact in my answers as I can be. The conversation between political parties will, of course, continue after this debate.

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