Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There was an expectation before the Taoiseach's meeting with Chancellor Merkel that she was going to be very strong on the issue of protecting the integrity of the Single Market and the customs union, even despite the other aim of protecting the Good Friday Agreement. I think that expectation did not come to pass, but did Chancellor Merkel offer any practical suggestions or solutions to that major problem, having regard to her experience? If the UK gets a longer extension to Article 50 and it contests the European Parliament elections, presumably it will be a full, legal member of the European Union, entitled to participate in the institutions and to make decisions along the same lines as other EU member states. Would that be the Taoiseach's understanding of the situation as well? They cannot be half in and half out. It is either one or the other.

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