Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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3. To ask the Taoiseach the detail of his contributions and comments at the June 2016 European Council meeting regarding Scotland and the responses he received. [19833/16]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My objective at the European Council meeting on 28 June, and the informal meeting of 27 Heads of State or Government the following day, was to present Ireland's views and concerns in relation to the impact and effects of the referendum in the UK, and to ensure, once again, that there is an understanding among EU partners of our particular national position, including as regards Northern Ireland and North-South relations. I am satisfied that is the case.

We work closely with the devolved administrations in the context of the institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement, including the British-Irish Council and the North-South Ministerial Council. In preparing for the European Council meeting, I had a wide range of discussions, including with the Northern Ireland First Minister and Deputy First Minister and with the Scottish First Minister, Ms Sturgeon, whom I had also met at the British-Irish Council in Glasgow on 17 June.

Ireland and Scotland enjoy excellent and close relations, as, indeed, we do with the UK as a whole. The recent visit by President Higgins underlined once more the strength of the ties between the peoples of Scotland and Ireland. The First Minister, Ms Sturgeon, was anxious that European leaders would be aware of her concerns about the future situation and status of Scotland following a UK departure from the Union. I undertook to mention those concerns during the European Council meeting, which I did. This was in the context of a wide-ranging discussion on the referendum outcome and its consequences, on which I reported in detail to the House on the 5 July. I look forward to ongoing contact with the First Minister and her administration at political, diplomatic and official levels. We will have an opportunity to meet again at the extraordinary meeting of the British-Irish Council on Friday of this week in Cardiff.

It is self-evident that the outcome of the referendum on EU membership has generated significant debate in all parts of the United Kingdom and beyond. Many aspects of the next steps in this process require clarification that will only emerge now that the new British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, has been appointed. In my discussions with Mrs. May last week, we discussed a range of issues of mutual interest, not least the importance of continuing to work together to build on the excellent relationship that now exists between Ireland and Britain, including our joint support of the peace process and the wider development of co-operation between these two islands. We agreed to stay in touch and to meet each other in the coming weeks.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. With a new Government in place in London, there is emerging a basic shape of the approach that may be taken by the United Kingdom Government to negotiations with the European Union. Mr. Davis, the new British Secretary of State responsible for Brexit, has suggested that he is fine with simply seeking a trade pact and that he may delay the triggering of Article 50 until next year. That would have significant implications for Ireland, and particularly Mr. Davis's narrow view of the negotiation parameters with Britain. It could involve the return of a customs border here, if his thinking gains any further momentum.

Mr. Davis also seemed somewhat confused as to the status of what he termed "southern Ireland", when asked about this country on Sunday. He seemed to be unaware of our constitutional status, to put it mildly. Could the Taoiseach, at the earliest opportunity, ensure that a member of Government holds an early meeting with Mr. Davis to update him on our perspectives on it?

More specifically concerning Scotland, it is clear that we need to stay closely in contact with the Scottish Government on an ongoing basis. I welcome the fact that the Government has decided to implement a suggestion I made to increase staffing in our European embassies and delegations - the Taoiseach made that clear at the leaders' meeting last week - but the Taoiseach needs to make a similar commitment to increasing the staff levels at our Edinburgh consulate, which was set up quite a number of years ago and which has played a valuable role in developing relationships between Ireland and the Scottish Government and, indeed, the Scottish Parliament.

The Taoiseach was correct in raising the matter at the European Council meeting because it is the elephant in the room in some respects as well. It is relevant in terms of what may happen down the road in Scotland, if it was ever to secede from the United Kingdom. That is something that may take some time to happen.

The Taoiseach mentioned in his reply the British-Irish Council and the broader sets of relationships. I note the key issues, apart from Mr. David Davis saying it is about trade. For us, it is obviously the retention of and, ideally and optimally, the UK's access to the Single Market to avoid tariffs between Ireland and Britain, but also the common travel area. The retention of the Single Market on the island of Ireland is critical, as is the avoidance of a hard border. I suggested an all-island dialogue on Brexit which would involve community groups, non-governmental organisations, the economic stakeholders, unions, business, etc.

Apart from the political constitutional elements, I am looking at a civil dialogue involving civil organisations. The Taoiseach is broadly committed to that. It would allow people from the civic and social side in Northern Ireland to make a contribution to such a national dialogue on the implications of Brexit and the optimal outcome for the island of Ireland that could be achieved in the context of negotiations between the Republic of Ireland, within the European Union and with the United Kingdom.

To be frank, that leaves aside the constitutional and political issues under the umbrella of the Good Friday Agreement, which should be dealt with separately. I made it clear in my remarks at the weekend that there is no evidence now there has been any shift in terms of public opinion vis-à-visa united Ireland, as per the Good Friday Agreement. All the evidence up to the Brexit referendum was to the contrary and that public opinion was not moving in the direction of a united Ireland in previous polls. It is important not to use Brexit as a kind of basis for an immediate Border poll or anything like that. I just want to make it clear that my position on that has been very consistent and understood. Much work must be done on that question.

On the Brexit issue itself, there is a very clear need for substantive dialogue, including with Scotland and others. I do not believe the full implications of this have been readily understood. As a former Minister, I went on trade missions to Scotland and we engaged with their universities. They are particularly strong on research and the application of research to business ideas and industry. It seems that many partnerships that have developed between Irish companies and companies in the UK or Northern Ireland could be in jeopardy as a result of Horizon 2020 funding being cut from partners in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. When in Brussels recently, the first person I met at the airport was a young person involved with a Northern Irish company who was very concerned about the partnership that had been developed. Where do such people now stand in terms of funding?

The Taoiseach got some criticism on the Scottish issue. We need voices on the UK side to surface as they will suddenly realise the implications of this for them if some proper negotiating platform, broader than just a trade agreement, is embarked upon. That needs to happen organically within the UK on issues like research, education, the Erasmus programme and so on, all of which could be cut off from young British people as a result of the decision to leave the European Union. There are a panoply of issues beyond trade and many people in the UK would be anxious to have some continuing engagement with them in any new agreement arising between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Will the Taoiseach indicate if he will take practical steps on the dialogue issue, including inviting in civil and social groups? When can we expect a national conference or a plenary session of such stakeholders to take place and enable us to start the process?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will see to it that Mr. Davis is contacted at an early stage to have the full range of our constitutional position fully outlined for him. I will ask the relevant Minister to deal with that fairly quickly.

When I was in Edinburgh at the last British-Irish Council, we spoke about the possibilities of increased business and trade between Ireland and Scotland before the decision. The Deputy is aware that Scotland has opened an office in Dublin. We will look at the question of beefing up the capacity in Edinburgh. I was very impressed with their approach when I met people in Glasgow about the possibilities for Irish business. The British-Irish Council meets in a special session in Cardiff this week on Friday to speak about the Brexit position, the Single Market and the CTA. They will all be points of discussion.

I would like to think there will be an opportunity for everybody to have their say on this. It may well be necessary to do it separately from the formalities of the Good Friday Agreement structure. As I stated before, although there is no mandate from here to negotiate for Northern Ireland, it is very important that we have a responsibility as co-guarantor of the agreement to understand the challenges that Northern Ireland businesses and entrepreneurs feel they face arising from Brexit. The Deputy is quite right in that many of these issues have not even been thought of in terms of how there will be an impact from the decision of the electorate to leave the European Union.

When I was in Donegal yesterday, the point I was making was that when the Good Friday Agreement was drafted, people were long-sighted enough to put into the agreement a clause whereby a time might arrive - we are now 20 years on - when a secretary of state could invoke the clause on the basis of sufficient support for a Border poll. That does not apply now because there is not sufficient support. I make the point that in years to come, it may well be that with Britain having left the European Union and Northern Ireland having voted to stay in the European Union but remaining a member of the United Kingdom, there may be general negotiations and discussions. The Deputy made the point, quite rightly, about Scotland wanting to join the European Union if it leaves the UK. We should be able to make the arrangement on a long-term basis if it arises in future that a secretary of state triggers that clause, which will by then have been in the Good Friday Agreement for many years. That is if Northern Ireland would want to extract itself from the United Kingdom to join a country that continued as a member of the European Union. The only point I was making was that the discussions should be long-sighted and visionary enough to cater for that kind of issue if it happened. I am not saying it will happen and I do not see any evidence of a Border poll now. Some time in the future, they should not have to go through the process of a long drawn-out application to join the Republic, if that was the wish, but to be a member of the European Union as well. These are the kinds of issues that should be encompassed in this.

I agree with the Deputy because under the Horizon 2020 programme we have 500 partnerships with Britain in universities, research, scientific analysis and so on. This is very worrying as the Commission has informed some of those people that funding might not be likely to continue. There are also many thousands of Irish students going to college in colleges of technology and universities in Britain, so the issue of what happens with them must be discussed.

There is also the question of electricity supply. Northern Ireland depends on the Republic of Ireland. We have interconnections with gas. These are important elements. If Britain is to leave and no longer be subject to the regulations in so far as climate change is concerned or the other implications of EU directives, these will all need to be discussed. We will also need to discuss what applies in terms of the law currently. If there is a single island electricity market underpinned by legislation in Dublin or Westminster, when Britain leaves we presume the legislation will continue to be enforced. In the longer term, part of the European Union philosophy is not to have any energy islands and we should be connected to mainland Europe. Currently that connection comes through Britain with undersea and land connections. These are all part of the dialogue we must have.

I would like to think we could put the best possible proposition together to have that kind of discussion from political parties, non-governmental organisations, business people, trade unions and everybody else who wants to have a say. We are working to devise what might be an appropriate operation to allow that to happen. I hope we can do that in September but I will consult the leaders opposite for their views on it.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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On a point of order and the way questions are grouped, this was a question about discussions between the Taoiseach and the Scottish First Minister which interacted with a raft of further questions. Given these are really significant issues on which we would all like to contribute, could we look at how questions are grouped?

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I take the Deputy's point and will pass it on to the Ceann Comhairle.