Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Leader will know, the process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union is now under way as Article 50 has been triggered by the British Government. Despite the honey-coated words used by the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, her Government is only interested in Britain's interests. The impact of Brexit on the economies of the North and the South has not seriously pre-occupied her or anyone else in her government. The Irish Government must adopt a similar approach and put Ireland's interests first. We need to be single-minded and need a practical plan to protect the Irish economy from the economic hurricane heading our way. Many concerns have been expressed about the impact of Brexit. I raised my concerns both before and after the triggering of Article 50. Understandably, nobody in Ireland wanted to see Brexit inflicted on us, but it is a hurricane heading our way. We need to move beyond focusing solely on words to the environment in which action will be taken. It is not, therefore, unfair or unjust to ask the Government to outline the practical steps it will take and I do not want to hear about its aspirations or hopes. I want it to outline the practical steps it will take in the short, medium and longer term in response to Brexit.

Will the Leader urge the Government to consider the decision taken by the Spanish Government to deal with the issue of Gibraltar's status post-Brexit? Within the draft guidelines of the European Council Spain has secured a veto over any future exit agreement. The Government should seek a similar veto in respect of the status of the North of Ireland where the people voted to remain. It is not beyond the realms of reasonable and sensible politics to argue in favour of having such a veto. A call by Ireland for such a veto would not be extreme. It would not jeopardise or place under pressure any of the things we have articulated in this House in the past few months. A veto would be in Ireland's national interests. I do not believe for one second that there is a partitionist in this Chamber. Even if one Senator did have a partitionist mindset, we have already accepted that Brexit will have a detrimental impact will be felt equally in the South and the North. Therefore, it would be sensible for us to argue in favour of having such a veto.

Last week the Leader told us that the Taoiseach was leading on this issue and the central figure in the Government's response to Brexit. I would, therefore, like the Leader to indicate when the Taoiseach will come back to the Chamber to update us. I appreciate that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has come to the House, but we need to hear a clear high level response from the Taoiseach on the practical actions the Government is taking and will take to protect Ireland's national interests.