Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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299. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the Brexit negotiations. [39657/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There have been three rounds of negotiations to date, with the most recent round concluding on 31 August. As this is the first phase of negotiations, and in line with the agreed sequencing, the focus has been on the withdrawal issues of citizens’ rights, the financial settlement, other more technical “separation” issues and the issues unique to Ireland. Both the EU and UK have used these early rounds of negotiations to clarify their respective positions, highlighting the areas of agreement and divergence.

Discussions on several issues have been reasonably constructive to date, with some progress being made in the areas of citizens’ rights and the other separation issues. However, it is clear that many difficult and complex issues remain, above all in regard to the financial settlement. It is the area in which the least amount of progress has been made. Although the UK has accepted that it will have financial obligations to honour on its departure, it has not yet advanced a more concrete position on the issue and indeed has argued that its obligations are moral, not legal.

It is imperative that sufficient progress is made on this issue, as well as on all of the other withdrawal issues, in order for the European Council to be able to make a decision regarding the opening of parallel discussions on the framework for future relations. It will be in the second phase that trade and sectorial issues, including the question of transitional arrangements, will be discussed. Given that these issues are of crucial importance to Ireland and our economy, the Government wants to see phase two to begin as soon as possible. However, unless the UK demonstrates greater and more constructive engagement on these issues in the next two rounds of negotiations, it is unlikely that the European Council on 19-20 October will be in a position to decide on whether sufficient progress has been achieved in the first phase of the negotiations.

Michel Barnier, EU Chief Negotiator, and his Taskforce are well prepared for these negotiations, based both on the European Council guidelines and the more detailed negotiating directives agreed in the spring and the extensive and ongoing consultations they are holding with the 27 EU Member States.

We are appreciative of the level of support that both the Taskforce and our EU partners have shown for Ireland’s unique concerns, with Mr Barnier reiterating at our meeting on 4 September that Ireland’s interests are the EU’s interests. My officials and I have been working very closely with Mr Barnier and his team to ensure that Ireland’s positions are fully reflected in the negotiations and we will continue to engage closely with them in the weeks and months ahead.

On the Irish-specific issues, the High Level Dialogue between the UK and EU teams is making some headway. Good progress has been made on the recognition of a continuation of the Common Travel Area and there is a common objective to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the peace process. However, while some progress is being made on the protection of the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the peace process, including the avoidance of a hard border, a lot more work is required on ensuring that the full implications of the UK’s decision to leave the EU is understood, including on North South cooperation.

In the last round of negotiations which concluded on 31 August, the UK presented its paper on Ireland and Northern Ireland. While the publication of this paper is welcome, the UK’s aspirations and statements of principle need to be backed by substantive commitments and clear links to workable solutions by the UK.

The Government welcomes and supports the Taskforce’s paper on the “Guiding Principles for the dialogue on Ireland/Northern Ireland”on 7September. The paper builds on the European Council Guidelines agreed earlier this year and reflects the priority Irish issues identified by the Government: protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, and the peace process, including avoiding a hard border, and maintaining the Common Travel Area and sets out the principles on which solutions will have to be based. The EU will now seek to agree these principles with the UK as the basis for the future discussions on detailed solutions. We will continue to work closely with Mr Barnier and his team to advance Ireland’s concerns in these negotiations.