Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach if he has spoken to Prime Minister May, First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill since 8 June 2017; the issues they discussed; and if there was an update on setting up the Northern Ireland Assembly. [27553/17]

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the commitments in the programme for Government on Northern Ireland. [27558/17]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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10. To ask the Taoiseach his plans to engage with political leaders in Northern Ireland. [27641/17]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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11. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Ms Arlene Foster, on 16 June 2017. [28794/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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12. To ask the Taoiseach the meetings that were held and the issues that were discussed during the visit by political delegations from Northern Ireland on 16 June 2017. [29052/17]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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13. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent meetings with DUP and Sinn Féin delegations regarding the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Executive and Brexit. [29791/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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14. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meetings with the leaders of the DUP and Sinn Féin on 16 June 2017. [29837/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 14, inclusive, together.

I had separate meetings with DUP party leader, Arlene Foster MLA, and her colleague, Simon Hamilton MLA, and with a Sinn Féin delegation including Michelle O'Neill MLA and Deputy Gerry Adams in Government Buildings on 16 June. In my discussion with the DUP, we spoke about a range of topics, including Brexit, their negotiations with the Conservative Party and LGBT rights in Northern Ireland. In the meeting with Sinn Féin, our discussions included its concerns around Brexit, an Irish language Act and its views regarding Irish unity. In both meetings, we discussed a wide range of issues, including the urgent need to re-establish the Northern Ireland Executive, noting the deadline of 29 June for completion of negotiations. There was also agreement on the importance of a functioning Executive in the context of the Brexit negotiations which started on Monday, 19 June. I made it clear that my Government and I would work in support of the Northern Ireland parties to re-establish the Executive and in pursuit of strong North-South relations, including through the North-South Ministerial Council. I stressed the objectives of ensuring Brexit does not impact negatively on the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process and of protecting North-South trade and economic activity, the common travel area and associated reciprocal rights. I raised the ongoing discussions with the DUP on the formation of a new Government in London, which is a matter for the parties represented at Westminster, noting the need to avoid any outcome which could interfere with devolution and the prospects of re-establishing the Executive.

As reported in the Programme for a Partnership Government Annual Report 2017, the Government continues to engage with the British Government and the political parties in Northern Ireland to support the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, including through the current talks process to address outstanding commitments from previous agreements and support the formation of a new Executive. I made a comprehensive report to the House on my contact with Prime Minister May since 8 June during Question Time in the House on 21 June.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is very little information available on the current status of discussions in Belfast. It is clear, however, that the absence of an Executive and assembly in Northern Ireland has left it deeply exposed during the Brexit process in London. It is my firm view that the institutions should never have been collapsed in the North and that we are going through a very cynical exercise prior to the inevitable restoration of both the assembly and the Executive. There is a clear majority in the assembly against a hard Brexit and in favour of doing everything possible to recognise the special status of Northern Ireland and its residents. Equally, the DUP no longer has the numbers to block things with a petition of concern. Anything which delays the re-establishment of the institutions will further undermine Northern Ireland's influence and leave matters totally in the hands of the Tories and the DUP.

In her meetings with the Northern parties after the election, the British Prime Minister met the leaders of all five main parties. In contrast, the Taoiseach chose to limit his meetings to the largest two. Will he explain this highly unusual decision and why he has allowed a situation to develop where, implicitly, he is seen to exclude those who represent nearly half the population in the North?

4 o’clock

In terms of yesterday's deal, I welcome the additional £1 billion. It is welcome and we should have the capacity to welcome it. The people of Northern Ireland need it. However, the language around the deal could have been more reassuring. It should have included an explicit statement that no matter relating to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement or the workings of the institutions can be raised in the context of that DUP-Tory co-ordination. That reassurance was not provided. There is also language which suggests a subordinate role for Dublin. That should not be there. Will the Taoiseach confirm if any of this text was discussed in advanced with him or his officials prior to its being signed off on.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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Has there been a change in strategy in respect of Brexit on the part of the Government. I refer, in particular, to the remarks of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, on special designated status for Northern Ireland. That is the position of Dáil Éireann, as voted upon. Is that a new position of the Government's and are we in fact now seeking a special designated status for Northern Ireland?

All of us would welcome the deal between the Conservative Party and the DUP in some respects. An extra £1 billion pounds in investment for Northern Ireland must be welcomed. Northern Ireland has very special circumstances. However, now that, for obvious reasons, it is at the top of the political agenda as far as the UK Government is concerned, will the Irish Government step up to the plate and make Northern Ireland a priority in order that we might seek to implement all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement? Is the Taoiseach concerned about other aspects of the deal between the Conservative Party and the DUP undermining the Good Friday Agreement? Will the UK Government remain impartial as regards the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement? Is there a concern that the DUP may have issues that are not in the interests of the nationalist community brought to the top of the agenda?

Is the Taoiseach concerned about the polarisation of politics in Northern Ireland following the recent Westminster elections? Moderate voices were swept aside in may ways. If we implemented the Good Friday Agreement and stepped up to the plate, moderate voices would be allowed to be heard again.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Time is tight. I have a direct question for the Taoiseach. He has met the DUP and Sinn Féin. As of now, what is his best assessment of a deal being reached by Thursday? What is his view of what should happen in the event that no deal is reached? Is it that there would be a further delay to allow for more talks, direct rule or assembly elections? Which of those is his favoured option in the event that there is no deal? What is his best assessment now of a deal?

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I will try to say this as moderately as I can in order to allay the fears of some. Will the Taoiseach explain to me the basis of his statement at last week's Council meeting to the effect that the British might change their mind on leaving the customs union. Was that just him thinking out loud or was it based on something he had picked up from the British or heard from one of the negotiators?

In the short time available, I wish, if I might, to make a point. Quite correctly, concerns around partiality and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement have been raised in the context of the deal the DUP has cut with the Tories. I bring the attention of the House to the fact that the DUP has now signed on for the Tory Brexit agenda in its confidence-and-supply agreement. We need to be very concerned about that. We welcome the £1 billion, should it materialise. Funnily enough, the figure tallies precisely with that which has been cut from the block grant, as it is called, over the past five to six years. However, lest there be any naïveté or misunderstanding as to the intentions of the Tory Brexiteers, it is to exit the Single Market, to exit the customs union and to end the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union. I was intrigued, therefore, by the Taoiseach's comments in respect of their changing their minds and staying in the customs union. I really hope that the Taoiseach is not engaging in that type of wishful thinking because it will not serve us well.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In his discussions with the DUP and Sinn Féin, did the Taoiseach discuss community relations? At the moment, community relations are probably at their lowest level in a long time. People are in separate silos in terms of the political administration. I am speaking about people who care about community interests and things such as integrated schooling and what happens to children who live in the North, about the poisonous and toxic atmosphere that now exists between the DUP and Sinn Féin and about whether the Taoiseach, in his new role, tried to detoxify what has become a very hateful and negative political environment. It is really depressing for people in the North when elections are simply reduced to sectarian headcounts.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I will start from the top. I met the DUP and Sinn Féin, which have been the two largest parties in Northern Ireland for two elections running and which are the main unionist and nationalist parties. I spoke to the leader of the UUP by telephone and we are making arrangements for me to meet delegations from the SDLP and the Alliance Party as soon as that can be done. However, as the House is aware, the focus has been on the talks at Stormont. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, has been there for most of this week and last and has been regularly meeting all the parties.

The issues in terms of Northern Ireland are unique and are well recognised as being unique. Every country has a trading relationship with the United Kingdom. Some countries such as Denmark, The Netherlands and France have major trading relationships with the United Kingdom and they will be impacted by any new trade rules. Perhaps not to the extent we will be, but they will be majorly impacted. We have a unique issue because of the land Border with Northern Ireland and the peace process, which is very much understood in other European capitals and in the European institutions, and that is why we will need unique arrangements to deal with our situation. Whether it is referred to as special status, special arrangements or special measures does not really matter. It is not what is on the tin but what is in the tin that matters. In any conversations that we have had, we have tried to focus on what that will mean.

To answer Deputy Howlin's question, I am optimistic. I am certainly more optimistic than I am pessimistic that it will be possible to have the Executive and the assembly re-established before the deadline. I do not wish to contemplate what will happen if the Executive is not re-established.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Presumably the Taoiseach has expressed a view. Not to be taken by surprise-----

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy knows, either would require legislation. I would not wish to see or support a return to direct rule. Nor would I see any purpose being served by another election. That is why I do not wish to contemplate either of those outcomes being the case.

Deputy McDonald asked about the UK changing its mind on the customs union. I suppose I was expressing an aspiration. She may remember that a similar aspiration was expressed by President Tusk when he suggested that he may be a dreamer but he is not the only one. When it comes to these things, it is important to hope for the best and to work towards the best outcome but also to prepare for the worst. We are doing both. Given the tight parliamentary arithmetic that exists at Westminster, anything could happen in the next number of months. We need to be cognisant of that too.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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And here too.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In our conversations, we did not have any detailed discussions on community relations. It was touched on but we did not discuss them in any particular depth. Having read the confidence-and-supply agreement between the Conservative Party and the DUP, I was particularly struck and disappointed by the fact that funding for shared education can now be reallocated to other purposes. That is an unfortunate step in the wrong direction in that particular agreement.