Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for her remarks, and also for the point about unity of purpose across all parties in this House on the crucial issue of Brexit, which I welcome very much indeed. I also take the opportunity to join with the Deputy in expressing our sympathies to the family of the Secretary General of the PLO on his recent passing. I share that sympathy with all in that organisation and those of his loved ones.

We are particularly pleased that President-elect Joe Biden has won the confidence of the American people. It is an outstanding personal mandate - the largest ever in the history of US presidential elections. It is fair to say he is the most Irish of Irish-American presidents since John F. Kennedy. During the campaign, he nailed his colours to the mast in terms of his absolute commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and to the upholding of the Good Friday Agreement, and to his resistance to any measures, mechanisms or developments that would undermine the Good Friday Agreement and peace on the island of Ireland.

In the context of Brexit, fundamentally the negotiations that have been under way for quite some time between the EU and the United Kingdom are ones that, in our view, must yield a sensible outcome, which is a comprehensive free trade agreement without any tariffs or quotas that would limit the damage of Brexit to jobs, the Irish economy, the UK economy and the European economy. Given the enormous negative impact that Covid-19 has had on our economy and on jobs, the last thing that our respective economies need is a second seismic shock via a no-deal Brexit.

I welcome the decision of the House of Lords last evening on the internal market Bill. The talks have intensified over the past week or so and they are at a crucial point. We would like to see an outcome to those talks on the basis of a deal being arrived at and that deal, essentially, then would lead to the neutralisation of the offending clauses of the internal market Bill and strict adherence to the protocol and to the withdrawal agreement because those are international treaties that the UK Government signed up to and that the British Parliament approved of. In our view, the EU was correct in taking infringement action against the UK in respect of those legislative proposals.

The key end objective for Ireland is that the future relationship between the UK and Europe would be a progressive one that has solid foundations that could lead to a fruitful engagement into the future, but, above all, one that would protect jobs and protect our economy. That is our objective. I intend to consult party members. We met last week on related matters. We discussed Brexit and the implications for the operation of the protocol. I believe there were constructive discussions on the protocol in the joint committee over the past while and important progress was made.

I am conscious that the First Minister and deputy First Minister have written to us about the issue of Northern Ireland goods' access to the European Union free trade agreements. That is something that has been raised with us by stakeholders as well. A joint letter has been received from the First Minister and deputy First Minister on practical arrangements around the application of certain aspects of the protocol. Those practical solutions are being explored by the United Kingdom and the European Union to address specific concerns regarding some specific supply chains from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. It is important that all outstanding issues are settled in the coming weeks to the give certainty which businesses and citizens need.

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