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

I thank the Deputy and I recognise his support and that of his party for the omnibus Bill, which is likely to get through the Dáil today. As the Deputy will be aware, the omnibus Bill applies to this jurisdiction. We do not have the authority to pass laws in this place for Northern Ireland. Only the Northern Ireland Assembly has the authority to do that. The Northern Ireland Assembly, for reasons of which the Deputy is aware, has not sat for nearly two years so we need to find an alternative solution. That solution involves a bilateral agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom as a whole. We have such arrangements in place for aviation, to allow aviation to continue to as normal, at least for nine months. Arrangements are in place around haulage licences as well. This issue has been raised and it is being worked on. Our objective is to conclude an agreement bilaterally between the EU and the UK, at least for a period of months, but that has yet to be finalised.

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