Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the clarification. It is very important, as the clock ticks down and people become very anxious about what might happen at Halloween, that the Government, as well as political leaders across the Dáil Chamber generally, remain firm in their resolve to secure and deliver the bottom line, the least worst option, which is the backstop. No one here is pretending that it is the all-encompassing answer to Brexit which was always bad news for us. We should not be led into a cul-de-sac in having to choose between the Single Market and the Good Friday Agreement, the all-island economy and citizens' rights. The task for all of us is to secure all of them. When does the Taoiseach intend to brief Opposition leaders again about his conversations with the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the political plan for what might happen if Britain crashes out of the European Union? All of the things the Minister listed - the avoidance of a hard border, protection of the Good Friday Agreement, North-South co-operation, the all-island economy, to which I would add citizen's rights, and our position in the Single Market - are still imperatives if and when Britain crashes out of the European Union. We need a plan to secure them come what may.

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