Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The first thing I want to reject is the assertion just made by the Deputy that EU negotiators have not negotiated in the interests of the Irish people. They have taken an extraordinary amount of time to understand the complexities, vulnerabilities and exposure on this island to the potential downside of Brexit. This whole process has been held up to try to resolve those vulnerabilities in a way that everybody can sign up to, in a way I hope that all parties in Northern Ireland will support in time, and in a way all parties in this Chamber will be able to support as well as they study the detail of what has been agreed. I do not want to let that charge stand unchallenged. Michel Barnier and his team have shown an extraordinary willingness to understand our island in all of its complexity and history, and have factored that in to what is a very complex 800-page document that is being published today.

The second thing is that I would caution against getting involved in the British political debate between parties, which debate will undoubtedly not take place on the back of this agreement. As a Government, we have stayed out of that because our job here is to negotiate on the EU side in a way that can protect our peace process, our relationship with the United Kingdom into the future, and our place in the EU and its Single Market. I believe the deal today achieves those ends.

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