Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Labour Party Senators, I commend the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and their officials on steering this complex, technical, but very important Bill through both Houses now that the passage of the Bill through the Seanad has been completed. I thank the Minister, Deputy Coveney, in particular for the specific responses he has given me on the issues I have raised. there has never been a Bill, the potential enactment of which has been more dreaded by everybody in both Houses. Certainly we all hope it will not be necessary, and it was very distressing for all of us to see the majority vote against the withdrawal agreement last night, largely prompted by, in my view, deeply flawed legal advice from the Attorney General , the Rt Hon. Geoffrey Cox. Having written many legal opinions for many years, the first 18 paragraphs of his opinion were leading to a very different conclusion than the sudden whammy in the 19th paragraph, which sank any prospect of the DUP and the ERG signing up to the withdrawal agreement. Clearly, what has happened has happened and we very much hope that the House of Commons will indeed vote against a no deal tonight and may then seek to push for an extension. I know the Minister has said in the Dáil that Ireland will not stand against an application for an extension, but clearly there has to be a ground for an extension, so it is very hard to see a way through. We all recognise that this is a crisis of British making and it has to be resolved primarily in the House of Commons and in Westminster. I wish the Minister every success in representing the interests of Ireland in any way forward we can reach in the next 16 days and in ensuring that matters can be resolved in a way that is in the best interest of all people on this island and throughout the EU.