Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That poster is up. That is the Tánaiste's party's campaign slogan. An extension beyond this week is inevitable in all circumstances and this gives Ireland more time to prepare. I acknowledge that the Taoiseach has sent me a lengthy letter on the issue of no-deal preparations following regular requests from me for this information over recent months. Unfortunately, the letter contains no information that was not already in the public domain.

On 29 March, 50% of businesses identified by the Revenue Commissioners as trading with the United Kingdom had not completed the first step of commercial registration. This is much worse than was expected when figures were released early last year showing the lack of follow-through from information to action on Brexit preparations. On 29 March, less than 10% of the funds in the main Brexit loan instrument were awarded. Just as seriously, in the past two weeks a wide range of basic and fundamental notices about what different sectors must do in a no-deal situation have been issued every day. This information is being published, the Government says, because businesses need to be ready, which raises the obvious question of why this information was not distributed in the week of 29 March when the United Kingdom came perilously close to a no-deal Brexit?

Whatever further delay is agreed tomorrow has to be followed by a completion of no-deal preparation so that we will be genuinely ready for any eventuality. We also need some assurance about the process which will follow any final agreement. Under the withdrawal agreement, the backstop is contingent on the European Union engaging with the United Kingdom in good faith on issues related to the Irish Border. What is the process to be followed in this and what arrangements are being contemplated? Are they in some way related to the company and ports-based measures briefed to the media last week?

Of course, the damage being caused to Ireland by the absence of the Northern Assembly and Executive continues. The people of Northern Ireland have been left without a voice at this dramatic moment in their history because their democratic institutions were collapsed two years ago over a heating scheme which appears to have lost a fraction of what it was originally claimed to have lost. The threat of imposing direct rule in Northern Ireland is unacceptable and we need a serious effort to break the impasse. I have said time and again that it is incomprehensible that we do not have the institutions up and running in the North given this dramatic moment in the history of the island and the implications for jobs and livelihoods as a result of the Brexit issue.

This summit confirms again that those who were demanding that we collapse this Dáil and Government and spend months on campaigning and Government formation were wrong. Ireland’s position is strong because Europe knows that Ireland's approach is based on a broad consensus established in mid-2016 and strengthened continually. There are no circumstances in which Brexit will end any time soon. If everything works out, we will still have nearly two years of new Brexit negotiations to undertake, and the economic hurt caused by Brexit will continue. The fall in sterling has directly undermined many businesses, particularly smaller indigenous firms which are reliant on the United Kingdom market alone. We cannot wait for finality from London. We need much greater urgency in helping businesses and communities which are already hurting from Brexit and are scared of what lies ahead. As we have before, we will support any reasonable proposal from the summit which protect the European Union and limits the damage of Brexit. The fact that this summit has to be held at all is a failure of the process and of the United Kingdom's political establishment. We should all hope that what emerges from the summit moves the core issues to a resolution and does not just move the can one step down the road.

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