Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Brexit Negotiations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 March 2018

Wednesday, 28 March 2018

Ceisteanna (103)

Charlie McConalogue

Ceist:

103. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of details of the backstop agreement between the EU and the UK Government with regard to ensuring no hard border on the island of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14013/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

A Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland is an integral part of the draft Withdrawal Agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and the UK. It is drafted to give legal effect to the commitments and guarantees provided in the EU-UK Joint Progress report of last December on avoiding a hard border and protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, including North South cooperation and rights. The draft protocol also reflects the agreement reached on maintaining the Common Travel Area. Progress has been made on the draft Protocol during the most recent round of negotiations, which concluded on 19 March. This is recorded in an annotated version of the draft Withdrawal Agreement published by the EU Taskforce on 19 March, which reflects agreement on some articles of the draft text, including the Common Travel Area and Other Areas of North South cooperation. During the negotiations, the UK also accepted that a legally operative version of the ‘backstop’ for the border will be included in the Withdrawal Agreement, in line with paragraph 49 of the Joint Progress Report agreed last December, and that all the issues identified in the draft Protocol will be addressed to deliver a legally sound solution for the border. Prime Minister May confirmed these agreements in her letter to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, on 19 March, in addition to reiterating the UK's commitment to agreements reached last December on protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the gains of the peace process, including the overarching guarantee on avoiding a hard border.

I welcome that the European Council, it its guidelines adopted on 23 March, made clear that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” and has stressed that work remains to be done in order to achieve overall agreement, notably on the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. To this end, an intensive schedule of negotiations has been agreed between the EU and the UK over the coming weeks with a view to continuing efforts to narrow the remaining gaps on the draft Protocol. The European Council, with the support of the Council, will continue to follow the negotiations closely, in all their aspects, and will return in particular to the remaining withdrawal issues, including the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland at its June meeting. I therefore expect significant progress to made an agreeing the Protocol ahead of this meeting of the European Council.

Barr
Roinn