I noted with interest the report in Friday's The Irish Times that the Taoiseach told a Fine Gael fundraising event that the outcome of the Brexit referendum could result in a united Ireland. The Taoiseach will not be surprised to hear that I welcome these comments if true. The First Minister of Scotland, Ms Nicola Sturgeon, spoke in the Seanad earlier today. She has been very clear on her position in respect of Scotland's interests. She has said that the option of another independence referendum remains on the cards should the British Government proceed with its plan to drag Scotland out of the Single Market. I do not purport to speak for the First Minister. These are matters for the people of Scotland to decide. However, I think citizens of Ireland would like the Taoiseach to adopt a similar stance in respect of Ireland, that is, that Irish unity should be on the table. As welcome as the Taoiseach's comments were, thinking out loud at a Fine Gael fundraiser is not enough. It is time to turn aspirations and notions into reality. The issue is Ireland and our interests. The Taoiseach cannot logically say to those in business and agriculture and people who rely on cross-Border services that Brexit will not have an effect on them because it clearly will. He cannot claim that the consequences of Brexit simply boil down to a hard Border versus a soft Border because the truth is that the Border - any Border - is the problem.

Yesterday, Sinn Féin launched our Towards a United Ireland discussion paper. We have sent the Taoiseach a copy of it. I have no doubt that he will find time in the coming days to read it. It is a document from us, but for everyone. We do not pretend that any one party has a monopoly on Irish unity. We want all parties that aspire to a united Ireland to become persuaders for unity. That means the Irish Government more so than all others. The Government will have a seat at the table during the Article 50 negotiations. Therefore, in our view, it has a responsibility and an obligation to use those talks to advance the pursuit of Irish unity. When the British Government pursued Brexit, it did not give one thought to Ireland, to the consequences for Ireland or to the Good Friday Agreement. Brexit is a British problem that requires an Irish solution. The Taoiseach says that unity is one possible outcome of Brexit to his Fine Gael colleagues. Does this therefore form part of Ireland's negotiating strategy? Has the Taoiseach shared the same thought with our EU partners, namely, people such as François Hollande and Angela Merkel?

I am not responsible for newspaper reports that may consist of second or third-hand information so I am glad the Deputy has raised the issue here again. I have dealt with it on a number of occasions. Brexit is one of the most critical issues of the past 50 years and will impact this country more than any other European country. That is why we have a particular interest in maintaining the links we have with Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom and preserving the peace funds and INTERREG funds and so on that we have. We have made it perfectly clear, however, that the question of a united Ireland is contained in the Good Friday Agreement, which I support fully, and of which I, as Head of Government, am a co-guarantor with the British Government. The Good Friday Agreement and its successor agreements contain a very clear measure to the effect that if people north and south of the Border decide by referendum that there should be a united Ireland, they should have that opportunity. We support this measure. My point, as articulated at the function at which I spoke, is that this measure must be part of a continued guarantee of the negotiations that will take place between the European Union and on our future relationship with the United Kingdom.

This is an internationally binding agreement, signed and accepted by everybody. The observation and fulfilment of the Good Friday Agreement and its successor agreements are binding issues for both countries. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, has been at pains on so many occasions to refer to this repeatedly in his conduct with associations and people in Northern Ireland. The North-South Ministerial Council knows this is part and parcel of the ordinary work in which we are involved.

I will answer the question the Deputy may be asking. Does this mean that a Border poll is imminent? No, it does not. Does it mean that the Government is calling for a Border poll now? No, it does not. Does it mean that the Government is looking at the longer term as to what the people in Northern Ireland and the Republic might do in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement? We will guarantee that right and opportunity is protected in the language of the future negotiations. This is an international, legally binding agreement of which the Republic is co-guarantor and it will be followed through on fully. That time is not now, Deputy McDonald.

I welcome and share the very strong view the Taoiseach has expressed of adherence to the Good Friday Agreement. That progress came after a very protracted and vicious conflict and it was hard-won on all sides. The Taoiseach is aware that this internationally-binding agreement recognises the Border as a contested border and that the matter is contemplated within it. The agreement also makes provision, as the Taoiseach rightly points out, for the democratic and peaceful means by which partition might be ended, with the consent, it goes without saying, of people North and South. I agree with the Taoiseach on all of that.

My question was rather more pointed. When the Taoiseach thinks out loud that Brexit might spur or cause what he called, if I am correct, an uncomplicated route to Irish unity, I want to understand what that means. I am not asking the Taoiseach to act in a pre-emptive or coercive manner and nor would it be acceptable for any Taoiseach to do so. That is not the point I am making. I am asking the Taoiseach to pin his colours to the mast as regards Irish unity over the medium and longer term. Is this something to which the Taoiseach aspires as Head of Government? Will he be part of a dialogue and a respectful, democratic conversation about the reunification of our country?

When I visited Prime Minister May at Downing Street very shortly after she was elected, we both agreed, in the context of these matters, that there would be no return to a hard border and that we would keep, for want of a better term, the "invisible" Border we have now, which is very different from what applied before and which would preserve the benefits of the common travel area that has, as Deputy McDonald is well aware, existed since the 1920s. I mentioned this, in the first instance, to Chancellor Merkel of German, President Hollande of France, Mr. Barnier, Presidents Tusk and Juncker, as well as all the others, because they understand - at a European level - that there has been a peace process in Ireland for quite a long time arising from the Good Friday Agreement, which Europe supports. We want to preserve that. This means that while some may seek alternative strategies or special status of one sort or another, we have a particular set of circumstances that I discussed with the First Minister, the deputy First Minister, the North-South Ministerial Council and the Executive Assembly. That means we will have a land border with the European Union when the UK leaves. We have PEACE and INTERREG funds and we want to preserve those benefits so the people of the island can have the intertwining of our economies progress in the way we would like. I have set out our priorities, which are our citizens, our trade, our economy, the Border, the common travel area and our future relationship with the European Union.

Tá an t-ám istigh.

These matters have been raised with other leaders. I take part in every discussion about Northern Ireland and the Republic. A central focus of that is the Good Friday Agreement-----

The Taoiseach will have to use another opportunity to elaborate further.

-----and its successor agreements. It is an internationally-binding agreement which I support and of which I am co-guarantor.

There must be some discipline regarding time.

Gabh mo leithscéal.