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

On the De Souza case, which I was asked about earlier, I always refer back to the Good Friday Agreement in respect of issues of this nature. The Good Friday Agreement is explicit that people in Northern Ireland are entitled to be British, or Irish, or both, and are accepted as such. I think the British Government has got it wrong in this case and the matter has been raised in our bilateral conversations. I have raised it with the Prime Minister, and the Tánaiste has raised it too. While we respect that the British have their own courts system, the Good Friday Agreement is clear in both letter and spirit and I think the UK Government has got it wrong in that case.

The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, BIIGC, met last week. Our delegation was led by the Tánaiste, while the British delegation was led by Mr. David Lidington. At the meeting, the bilateral agreement between Britain and Ireland to continue the common travel area was signed, which will protect and strengthen it by giving it a stronger political and legal underpinning. It was an important achievement and a significant outcome for Irish and British people alike, as it gives us a guarantee that no matter what else may happen as a consequence of Brexit, we will still be able to live, travel, work and access healthcare, education, housing and the welfare system in each other's country as though we are citizens of both. That is being protected and retained and I am pleased we were able to bring that to a conclusion last week, notwithstanding the great uncertainty of other matters.

The BIIGC can also be an institution through which we maintain the strong friendship to which Deputy Burton referred. Irrespective of what happens as a consequence of Brexit, we will naturally want to continue to have a close economic and political relationship with the United Kingdom, our nearest neighbour and one of our largest trading partners, which is particularly important for the agrifood sector, some small exporters and others. We will try to do that with two methods. Through the European Union, we will negotiate a new free trade agreement and a close relationship with the UK, while we will also enhance our bilateral relations, for which extra work will have to be done because the UK will not be in the EU any more. We can use the institutional framework of the BIIGC as part of that but we will also take other steps, such as reopening our consulate in Wales and examining the opening of a consulate in the midlands or the north of England, perhaps in Manchester or Birmingham, to deepen our diplomatic and agency presence in Britain. We will have to undertake many more ministerial visits to the UK because until now, we have had the opportunity to meet our UK counterparts three or four times a year, at Council of Europe meetings in Brussels, but that will no longer be the case. We will have to make a special effort, therefore, to maintain the bilateral relationship, for which organisations such as the BIIGC can play a useful part.

Deputy Howlin asked about my assessment but it is difficult to know. Nobody can predict the future with any certainty in respect of Brexit and we must continue to prepare for the various potential outcomes. Currently, we must await developments in Westminster. European elections will be held next week here, in Britain and in Northern Ireland, the last of which could be especially interesting as the third seat is very much up for grabs. We will have to assess the outcome of those elections in the following week. Talks are ongoing between the Conservative Party and the British Labour Party. We do not know whether they will be able to come to a conclusion, although I hope they can in such a way that allows the UK to leave the EU in an orderly fashion, if it must leave at all. I am told by the Prime Minister that if those talks fail, Westminster will move to a further set of indicative parliamentary votes, which may help to guide the outcome. The European elections and their outcome could harden attitudes in the UK but we should bear in mind that many parties are in favour of a second referendum or are pro-Remain but their vote is divided. That is less the case with those forces that support a no-deal Brexit or hard Brexit, which must be taken into account.

The next phase of negotiations will arise only if the withdrawal agreement is ratified. We anticipate that those talks will be led by the European Commission, which would be logical, and they may involve the establishment of a task force, or something similar to what currently exists under the leadership of Mr. Michel Barnier, although that has not yet been worked out in detail.

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