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

With regard to the renewable heat incentive, and following up what has been said, an inquiry is under way and it has not yet reported or made any findings. I do not think we should assume there was corruption, at least until the inquiry reports and states there was. I want to put this on the record. The general approach is to carry out the inquiry before making a judgment and this is the approach we should generally take.

The interparty talks are now under way. They involve all of the major parties and not just the two main parties but, of course, the two main parties are crucial to this given that they represent 50% or more of the electorate. Now that the local and European elections are over there is a small but real window of opportunity to secure an agreement. The Prime Minister, Mrs. May, is very keen in her last months in office to see this happen. I am very keen to work with her and the parties to make it happen. There will be a stocktaking exercise. It was initially intended to happen at the end of May and now it may happen in June but we will do it. Deputy Martin asked about the spending review and I will certainly raise that with the Prime Minister, Mrs. May, when I see her again in the next couple of weeks. I will also have an opportunity to meet the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, tomorrow and I will talk with him about some of these issues. We met briefly at the funeral of Lyra McKee but this will be the first time we will have a substantial meeting and I look forward to hearing his reflections on Brexit and Northern Ireland issues.

When it comes to the possibility of a no deal hard Brexit at the end of October I am still confident it will be avoided. Whether by the ratification of the deal, revocation of Article 50 or a further extension that may be requested by a new Prime Minister or even a new Government I am confident it can and will be avoided but we must be prepared for it. Our preparations, which were complete at the end of March, are still complete but are continuing and will be augmented. We particularly want to send a message to businesses that have not yet engaged in Brexit planning not to assume it will be all right on the night and if they have not yet engaged in Brexit planning to do so please. I emphasise this message. Many businesses have done so but some have not and they need to prepare for this very real possibility.

With regard to the far right and far left, the House will know that for me very often they are two sides of the same coin and agree on many issues. Hostility to the European Union and opposing European integration and treaties is something the far right and far left often coalesce around.

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