Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach.

Britain does not renounce treaties. Indeed, to do so would damage our integrity as well as international relations.

I hope that is the first and last time I ever have to quote the former UK Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher. We are in a difficult situation, given what the British Government has stated. I was interested in the Taoiseach's tweet yesterday:

Any negotiation process can only proceed on the basis of trust. When one party to a negotiation decides that they can change what's already agreed and incorporated into law, it really undermines trust. This is a critical time in the Brexit process and the stakes are very high.

I agree with the Taoiseach and I support him because, as a country, we have to pull together. There is a critical issue here. The country has to take this in a certain direction because we are being critically impacted. I listened carefully to the Taoiseach's comments in response to the leader of Sinn Féin earlier but this is a time, from an international point of view, that the Taoiseach needs to stand up and call this out for what it is. This is a critical juncture but I do not trust Boris Johnson. I know the Taoiseach cannot say that but he more or less has to say so in diplomatic language because this is unprecedented.

1 o’clock

Never before has a government, that of our closest neighbour, treated an Irish Government - the Taoiseach's comments reflect this as well - the way that the British Government has treated Ireland in the last 48 hours, by letting this news seep out, then doing what it did in the House of Commons yesterday and continuing today. It needs to be called out as part of this process and the Taoiseach should do that quickly and publically. I state that because what will work with Boris Johnson is what will have the biggest impact on him domestically. We need to call this action out for what it is. This is not trustworthy. This is not the standard of behaviour that we expect from a sovereign country, our closest neighbour. This is not the appropriate way to treat anybody, let alone one's nearest neighbours. This is especially the case given what was agreed regarding the Northern Ireland protocol. Dare I say it, but even the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, which may not like the agreement, came out and stated that we have to work within what was agreed.

The Taoiseach is speaking to the Prime Minister this afternoon. Given the type of character he is, however, I think he will only react to one thing and that is being called out quite publicly. The Taoiseach needs to say that and we will support him. This is a seminal moment for the Taoiseach personally. We have been through much in this country since he became Taoiseach but this is possibly the most important moment, in some ways. The Taoiseach needs to call out this action. I ask him to do that. The only pressure that works on this Prime Minister, given his behaviour, is pressure that will impact him domestically. The Taoiseach will be doing the whole world, and definitely the whole of Europe, a favour.

The Taoiseach might, therefore, outline his thinking regarding this issue. Has the Taoiseach spoken to Michel Barnier this week regarding this matter? The Taoiseach might also outline what other diplomatic channels he is using. We do not need to know the full details, just that the exhaustive list of diplomatic channels is being used. Furthermore, if the British Government pursues this line and if it intends to behave with this brinkmanship, what actions is the Taoiseach pushing to put forward in the coming days, subsequent to his telephone call?

My real request to the Taoiseach, however, is for him to call out this behaviour during that call and to tell him straight up that he is going to do Europe and the world a favour by publicly calling out that the British Prime Minister is behaving in a way that is reprehensible. He is not going to honour international treaties and he is breaking a tradition of the nation and of the British Government that has gone on for so long; about which they have made such grandiose claims and for which behaviour they have claimed such respect. Hitting him domestically is the only way the Taoiseach will be able to get him into the line of where we believe he has to go, which is to honour the commitments that he made as part of this agreement.

See this speech in context