Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, we are very sorry to hear that Senator Denis Landy has resigned. He served as a public representative since 1988 and served as a Mayor of Carrick-on-Suir Town Council on two occasions. He was elected to Seanad Éireann in 2011. I would like to thank him, on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, for his many years of public service and wish him all the best for the future.

What we have seen in the past few hours was an element of accountability which was very much lacking in the past few weeks. I do not intend to rehash events, but we saw parliamentary questions go unanswered, selective amnesia and a failure to comply with discovery requests by a dysfunctional Department of Justice and Equality. The fact that further documents were uncovered by the Taoiseach at the weekend demonstrates further the inadequacies in the Department of Justice and Equality. I was glad to hear that the Taoiseach has directed that an external inquiry into the failure to discover adequately to the Charleton tribunal those emails he found over the weekend be established. I ask the Leader to ask the Taoiseach when this will be set up and who he intends to appoint as an independent external investigator.

It all begs the question of what other documents, memos, letters, etc., have not been handed over to the tribunal. Have any of these documents been destroyed? The Taoiseach also recommended the full implementation of the Toland report. I ask the Leader to ask the Taoiseach for more detail on when this will commence. Time is of the essence, as the Department of Justice and Equality is one of the central pillars of our justice system and democracy. The Taoiseach also indicated that he will examine the relationship between the Department and An Garda Síochána.

He also outlined that replies to parliamentary questions in respect of this matter will be reviewed to ensure that answers are complete. Ultimately, it is important that there are no more secrets in the Department of Justice and Equality or any other Department. The concept of parliamentary accountability needs to be upheld, something the events of the past few weeks have demonstrated.

The upside to having avoided an election is that our negotiating team at the European Council summit will have ample time to put into its preparation strategy. The Government and Fianna Fáil are ad idemin regard to the strategy for Ireland which is, ultimately, that we should not have a hard border. We know a disorderly hard border will be disastrous for Ireland. In a recent survey, the British Irish Chamber of Commerce reported that 53% of Irish firms believe Brexit presents a greater threat than opportunity to their firm. In comparison, 28% of respondents believed Brexit presents a greater opportunity. Our small businesses are the cornerstone of our economy. They must be listened to and their concerns taken into account during the summit.

We must take the time to prepare properly for these important discussions. I call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Simon Coveney, to address the House on the preparations he has made to date in respect of all eventualities. To quote his fellow Cork man - not Deputy Micheál Martin - "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail."