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

The Deputy poses many interesting questions. The question of an application for an extension to Article 50 is a matter for the British Government and Parliament. I do not think it is up to us or anybody else to advise them on that because it is a democratic choice they will need to make. If an application is made for an extension of Article 50, the Taoiseach and I have indicated that we would not stand in the way of that or see it as a problem. However, if there is an application for an extension of Article 50, that application would need to be accompanied by a plan. Rather than just buying more time, it would be a case of providing an opportunity to get something done. That would not be an unreasonable request from the European Council, which would have to agree to the UK's request.

If an extension was sought and granted, and pushed beyond the time for the elections to the European Parliament, the question for the United Kingdom is whether it is required to elect MEPs because it will be a European member state and issues arise as to whether the European Parliament could form without having representation from all member states in a way that is consistent with the treaties. These are issues the United Kingdom will have to consider and manage appropriately. It would be strange to have elections for representation in a union one is about to leave. The assumption was that the United Kingdom would have left the European Union by the time the elections take place. The extra seats have been reallocated already and Ireland has benefited from two of those. The seats in question could potentially be impacted upon on a temporary basis if British MEPs were to take their places for a short period in the event of an extension. The way they would nominate or elect their representation in the European Parliament is a matter for the United Kingdom would need to be consistent with British and European law. That is an important issue, but it is not the most important in the greater scheme of things. We can put up with a bit of disruption in the European Parliament if there is a larger priority to be deal with in to ensure that we reach a point where we have a managed withdrawal agreement that can put in place everything we want, namely, the protections for Ireland and its peace process, a transition period for business and all the other things we need to see in that regard.

In terms of road haulage, the European Commission was very helpful on that in December when it agreed to essentially roll over, on a temporary basis, the recognition of licensing as it applies today. In other words, road haulage operators would not need licences to go in and out of the UK and into the EU Single Market. As long as there is a reciprocal arrangement with the UK, which presumably there would be, we would allow for road hauliers to move back and forth and to use the UK as a land bridge where appropriate.

I will probably not get time to properly answer the question on farmers.

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