Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week the Taoiseach talked to journalists about the possibility of troops being sent to the Border. He then went on to clarify the statement, saying that he was talking about British troops. That is of little comfort and we are going backwards instead of forwards.

Part of the challenge we have as an opposition party, and what does not help us and our understanding of this is that the Government has, to date, refused to clarify what measures it will put in place to ensure there is no hardening of the Border in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Minister said again that the Government will not accept a hard border. Are there measures the Government can pursue to avoid a hard border? Such measures would have the full support of the House. Sinn Féin's difficulty is that it wants to support positive measures but it does not know what positive measures the Government is putting forward, although I realise negotiations are ongoing. That is part of the difficulty we have.

Ireland will not accept a hard border, and the Minister said the EU will not accept one either, but part of the difficulty we face is that if there is no agreement, there will be a hard border. The EU will want to protect its borders. It will be about compliance, standards, country of origin and so on. What are we proposing or putting on the table in the event of a no-deal Brexit and a hard border?

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