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

That is a roundabout way of asking a question that I get asked almost every day at the moment. That is really going to depend on what happens in the next few weeks, whether we have a deal, and if we do not have a deal, what shape that takes. We are increasing the size of the Garda force, which is now more than 14,000. Civilians are being brought in to free up gardaí, and we are taking and have taken on more Revenue staff and more customs inspectors. We have the additional staff we may need in certain circumstances.

I notice it has become part of the part of the commentary in London at the moment that I, as Taoiseach, have somehow said that special arrangements would solve all our problems and that all of these concerns about a hard border and the need for a backstop do not matter because the Taoiseach has talked about there being special arrangements. Let there be no doubt in this House or in Westminster that when I talk about special arrangements, I mean treating Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the United Kingdom, and it is the UK Government's proposal to do exactly that, not in four of five years if the backstop ever has to be implemented but in a few weeks in the event of no deal.

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