Since the Brexit referendum result on 23 June last year, it has been clear that the British Government intends to leave the European Union and bring the North with it in defiance of the vote of the people in that part of our country. It has also been clear that if this is allowed to happen, the land frontier between the European Union and British state will be on the island of Ireland. It will run from Derry to Dundalk, and that has also been obvious.

What has been the Government's response to this? Generally speaking, it has been to wait and see what the British might say next. It has been to watch their game instead of concentrating on our own game. The Taoiseach and the Fianna Fáil leader have bored us to tears - they have certainly bored me - with their idle speculation about what the British might do next, accompanied by lamentations that Britain is leaving the European Union. In fairness, the Taoiseach set up the civic dialogue after initially dismissing the idea when Sinn Féin first proposed it. I know the Taoiseach has said the priorities are trade, the economy, the common travel area, the peace process and the future of the European Union. That is fair enough but it does not match the significance or historical importance of what is happening.

Last week the British Prime Minister made a significant speech in which she reiterated her position. She also repeated her intention to withdraw from the European Court of Justice and she has already committed to scrapping the Human Rights Act and withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights. These are fundamental parts of the Good Friday Agreement. The Taoiseach's response has been disappointing and dismal. Clearly, we need to protect, as best we can, our trading relationship with Britain. That is taken as a given. We also need to resist the effects of Brexit on this island and State. All of the remaining 27 EU member states will decide the conditions of Britain's exit. I will quote the Taoiseach's former colleague, EU agriculture Commissioner Mr. Phil Hogan, who has stated:

There is a risk that Ireland could allow our relationship with Europe to be defined by our relationship with the UK. Instead, we should have the confidence to recognise that post-Brexit Ireland will need to have in place different relationships with our EU partners.

I suggest to the Taoiseach that the starting point for the Government must be to actively seek special designated status for the North within the European Union. That will uphold the democratic rights and vote of the citizens there. It will also ensure that the frontier between the European Union and Britain will not be on the island of Ireland. That is crucial for both parts of this island. It is also in our national strategic interests that the Government takes an all-island view of the future. I again ask the Taoiseach to assert this approach by embracing the proposition that the North should be given a special designated status within the European Union.

I do not accept the Deputy's starting premise. For the past 18 months, Ireland had been preparing for the possibility that there might be a Brexit vote. On the day after the vote, we published a comprehensive document setting out the main priorities, in so far as we saw them, arising from that decision of the UK people. On 9 September 2016, I delivered a detailed paper at the Oxford Union setting out the priorities that we see as important. The Deputy's party was represented at that conference.

I also set out the need for deeper analysis of the key issues, challenges, risks and opportunities for Ireland. I referred to the need for greater levels of public consultation and engagement around those issues. I outlined the need for deeper interaction with all our EU partners, the EU institutions and, increasingly, with the Barnier task force in order to ensure that our concerns were fully understood and respected. In addition, I highlighted the need to consider the economic implications for economic policy more generally and, where appropriate, specific measures to deal with the Brexit-related developments. Some of these were contained in the budget 2017 measures and others can be found in the action programme of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, which assesses the implications involved.

Other parties have detailed papers in respect of the issues that will arise in the agri-sector - with particular reference not only to the economy of the North and South but also to that of the east and west - in respect of which we have a trade surplus of over €1.3 billion. Obviously, by setting out all of that long before the UK Prime Minister was even elected, we committed to maintaining our place as one of the 27 member states of the European Union. As I said, our collective goals remain the same. In her speech last week, the Prime Minister referred to the current uncertainty relating to the Northern Ireland political situation. She reinforced the view that I have already outlined for Deputy Adams.

The Deputy makes a point about special designated status. When he gets the opportunity, I would like him to explain what he means by that. We have particular circumstances that are recognised in Northern Ireland arising from the Good Friday Agreement. Northern Ireland is the only location in the European Union where they apply. The rights of the citizens both North and South - which they voted for - are enshrined in that internationally-binding agreement. It has been lodged with the United Nations and supported by Europe, the United States, the British Government and the Irish Government.

Exactly.

We will work very hard to see that those rights continue to be vindicated. When the people, North and South, voted for the Good Friday Agreement, they did so on the basis of being European Union citizens. The fact that the British Government decides to leave the Single Market and the European Union will not impact on their rights, as validated by their vote for the Good Friday Agreement. The circumstances we have are special. They are the only such circumstances in Europe and I want to build on that. With the help of Sinn Féin we might get some constructive suggestions.

I actually support the rationale outlined by the Taoiseach to the effect that the people in the North voted for the Good Friday Agreement and, therefore, that should have primacy. Let us follow the Taoiseach's rationale. The people also voted to stay within the European Union. There are numerous precedents for the special designated status that we are advocating, including, for example, the case of Denmark and Greenland.

The Taoiseach lauded the Good Friday Agreement. The British Government is in default and this Government is in default in respect of many grounds and elements of the Good Friday Agreement. What I am trying to focus in on is that the Government is accepting that the land frontier between the European Union and the British state will be on the island of Ireland. That is implicit in what the Taoiseach says. He should not accept that.

If the Government accepted our proposition, for which there is precedent, it would not affect the constitutional issue and the Government would ensure that the land frontier would not be not on the island of Ireland. There are technical, strategic and national interests to support the logic and common sense behind that. The Taoiseach refrained from embracing the proposition but I want to give him another opportunity to do so. Why does the Taoiseach not make it clear that his Government will accept the case for a special designated status within the European Union? He should make it a central plank of the Government's negotiating strategy and policy. Moreover, he should tell the British Prime Minister as much next week.

The Government stands committed to see the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, as well as all of its conditions, in full.

It does not.

I agree that significant elements of the Good Friday Agreement - some historical and some cultural - have not been implemented. These are matters on which we need to follow through.

We do not have a constitutional claim on the Six Counties of Northern Ireland any more, but the rights of the citizens, North and South, who voted for the Good Friday Agreement on the same day are enshrined in the Agreement.

As I already said, in respect of the island of Ireland at some future date, the language around that in terms of negotiations will be something I intend to pursue very vigorously to allow for that possibility, if it becomes a matter for the people to decide at some future time. I have made that point to Deputy Adams before. This is a situation in which we have a particular special set of circumstances.

Yes.

We have a peace process supported by the European Union. We have cross-Border activities supported by the European Union.

Yes.

I want to see that continue-----

In special designated circumstances.

-----as indeed does the British Prime Minister. I would be happy to talk to her-----

No, she does not. Please catch yourself on, Taoiseach.

-----about that and other matters when she comes here in the short time ahead.

Do not be vouching for Mrs. Theresa May.