Minister over the last few days
the discussions and negotiations around BREXIT
have been frantic to say the least.
The Taoiseach said yesterday that he is confident
that a deal can be negotiated.
And that is something that everybody in this house wants for our country
and for the people of our country.
However outside his assurances
there’s huge uncertainty in the air
and depending on what reports you read
or what radio interview you listen to,
that uncertainty and that degree of uncertainty is variable.
And that uncertainty is hugely worrying for every
citizen on our island.
But is especially worrying and especially urgent
for businesses across the island
who are crucially dependent on certainty,
particularly in relation to supply chains, to the United Kingdom
and uncertainty regarding a hassle-free land bridge across the UK
into markets in Europe and beyond.
Due to that uncertainty
businesses on this island are already losing contracts
as they cannot give certainty for 2019 in terms of their supply chain
into the UK and beyond the UK across that land bridge.
By losing contracts means opportunities being lost employment wise,
losing contracts means people will be discommoded in terms of employment,
losing contracts is an absolute no,
no that we have to pay the price of this British BREXIT folly.
The Tánaiste was on the radio this morning
and he was telling us there’s no need to panic.
That he agreed with the Taoiseach and quote, unquote,
was confident a deal can be done.
However President Tusk is saying, quote unquote
that there are no grounds for optimism.
And he is calling again on Prime Minister May to break the impasse and to bring forward new proposals.
Our ambassador to the UK, Adrian O’Neill
addressed the British and royal Irish academy
and said it was disappointing and concerning
that there had not been more progress made on Northern Ireland,
Ambassador O’Neill also said that the British were, to use his phrase,
backsliding over the issue of Northern Ireland backstop
by demanding that it be time limited.
He went on to say
‘it is not consistent with what was agreed last December and March’.
Minister I want to ask you as a former minister for foreign affairs,
somebody who was involved in the early stages of these negotiations,
do you agree with ambassador O’Neill’s assessment of the current situation.
And finally given that President Tusk has written to all member states
asking every member state to prepare for a no deal BREXIT,
what plans have our government in place for business, for citizens, for employees regarding UK Ireland supply chains
chains and the land bridge across the UK into key markets in Europe and beyond.
I appreciate all those supports are in place
but what we need is certainty, what business needs is certainty.
And no amount of supports for Leo’s or Beatty’s in Monaghan will help the business
who cannot give certainty to their clients in the UK or beyond about supply chains.
And we need urgency around concluding these talks to put a deal in place to give that certainty.
Again I ask you for your comments
and your thoughts on ambassador O’Neill’s remarks,
particularly in relation that the British are backsliding over the issue of the Northern Ireland back stop.
And that their position is not consistent with what was agreed,
is that a shared government position?
And again minister what is your own instinct in relation to the timeline on this.
You were involved in the early stages of this,
you are still involved from a security point of view.
We need to show to Irish business that we understand the pressures that we are under.
That political drama might fill papers and sell papers
and give breaking news
but certainty is needed for decisions that effect real lives to be taken,
not in December and not in January, not in February, now.