Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I strongly support what Senator Ó Céidigh stated. The report is an important body of work, to which we referred previously. I hope the Leader will meet the Senator's request in early course and that the Minister will appear before the House to debate and discuss it further.

On Brexit, we should not get too upset. Everything we are hearing is based on leaks. The papers, non-papers, proposals or whatever they are could be part of an opening or ongoing gambit. We should not concern ourselves too much because it will be a matter for the EU. The British Prime Minister is playing to his own audience, as we well know, and he has his own agenda in Manchester. We all know, and will not forget, that our protection and that of the EU, through the backstop and the Good Friday Agreement, is solid. Let us not play-act or respond too much to what happens over there. The British Prime Minister must realise what he must do at the heel of the hunt. He is probably playing down the clock. He knows he will have to obey the Benn Act and the law of the land over there. He will doubtless have to seek an extension, although whether it will be granted remains to be seen. For our sake, I hope that when he is faced with the prospect, it will be granted. The EU, as much as we, will need the transition period of two years or more to get matters sorted and to have them carry on as they are. We should not jump up and down about what they are doing over there. Let us hold our whisht a while and see what, if anything, emerges concretely.