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

I thank the Deputy. We are certainly going to communicate to our UK counterparts our concerns and objections regarding this measure. Unfortunately, it does not come as a huge surprise. The Deputy may recall that part of the argument in favour of Brexit was about controlling UK borders and reducing and stopping immigration from the EU. This is part of the outworking of that. It may be the case that some people who voted for Brexit did not realise that, but it is part of the outworking of Brexit that the UK is going to harden its borders and reduce immigration, including from the EU. Ending free movement was a big part of the argument the UK made, but we will absolutely be making our views known.

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