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

I thank the Deputy. For the part of the Irish Government, we will continue to uphold the Good Friday Agreement in letter and spirit. We will continue to respect the fact that people in Northern Ireland have the right to be British or Irish or both, and accepted as such. For that reason, we continue to respect and confer Irish citizenship on people in Northern Ireland. With that comes citizenship of the European Union and all the European rights that flow from that - the right to travel freely, or to work or study in any part of the European Union. Connected to that come the common travel area rights to live, work, study, access healthcare, housing, education and welfare in Britain and Ireland as though citizens of both. We are very much upholding our obligations in that regard and making sure that nobody in Northern Ireland is left behind, regardless of which community they come to when it comes to accessing those citizenship rights.

As I mentioned, this is an issue on which we have engaged with the British Government. It has agreed to review and resolve the issue in line with the letter and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement. This judgment appears to make a distinction between identifying as British or Irish as opposed to being a citizen. In our view, that is a misreading of the Good Friday Agreement. We will continue to seek an outcome of that review. The Tánaiste will raise it with the Secretary of State and I will raise it with the Prime Minister.

The Deputy is suggesting a stronger approach, namely, that I insist and demand. If that approach was effective, the Deputy would be in government in Northern Ireland. That is not the approach that works in the real world. One raises issues with people in a logical, respectful and consistent way.

See this speech in context