The European Council at its meeting scheduled for next Thursday will decide whether sufficient progress has been achieved in the Brexit talks to allow movement to the next phase. I hope the Tánaiste and I agree that this cannot and will not happen unless the matters of concern to Ireland, North and South, are addressed and solutions agreed that defend the national interest. I hope we agree that any agreement must ensure the North will remain within the customs union and the Single Market and that the legal and political infrastructure of the Good Friday Agreement will be hardwired into any deal. It also means that we must have certainty on the issues of citizens' rights and access to the European Court of Justice and other European institutions for citizens living in the North. Anything short of this will guarantee a Brexit border between the North and the South and the ensuing economic and political chaos.

According to the Taoiseach on Monday, there was an agreement between the British Government and the European Union but the DUP then pulled the rug from under the Tories' feet and it all collapsed. In the midst of this, there was a great deal of talk about but little meaning in there being no regulatory divergence and continued regulatory alignment. Despite this lack of clarity and not having seen the text, we gave the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach our qualified support on the basis that they would seek and achieve an agreement that would defend the national interest in the way I have outlined.

When the agreement collapsed, the Taoiseach stated he would not accept anything other than the deal he believed he had had on Monday. He was holding firm. Today, however, we hear new and worrying language from the Government. We hear that it will consider any new text from the Tory Government in London. We also hear about a fudge on the Government's much vaunted regulatory alignment. The British Prime Minister continues to play a game of make-believe that the North can be forced out of the customs union and the Single Market and that a hard border can be avoided. The Irish Government cannot be sucked into this delusion. If the Tories want to sail off into the sunset from the European Union, that is their business, but what happens in the North of Ireland is our business and that of the Government. The Government has a strong hand to play and democracy firmly on its side, given that the people of the North have not consented to leaving the Single Market or the customs union. They voted to remain and it falls to the Government to defend that vote. It should be sure we will stand shoulder to shoulder with it, if it does so. As it cannot afford a fudge, it needs to make the right call. As the Tánaiste stated, there is no room for creative ambiguity. Will he state clearly and with certainty that the Government will not agree to any deal that would drag the North from the customs union and the Single Market?

The Government has acted in a way that has been consistent for months and we do not intend to move away from that position. We regard the responsibility of the Government in the Brexit negotiations as being hugely important in the context of the national interest on the island of Ireland as a whole. That is why we have tried to listen to all views from political parties in government and opposition and from all of the political parties in Northern Ireland on the genuine concerns people have.

It is as a result of this that we have negotiated for some time, through very clear structures and an EU task force led by Michel Barnier, with our counterparts in the UK who are negotiating on behalf of the British Government.

At the start of the week, we had agreement on a text which was subsequently not confirmed. We are now in a position whereby we need to find a way forward. Let me be clear. The core issues on which Ireland got agreement at the start of the week are not changing and, as I said, are in the interests of the island and the relationships on it North and South, east and west and between different communities and political parties. We have maintained and will continue to maintain that position.

The Taoiseach has said that we will of course consider any other proposals which the British Government may offer. Our position on the core meaning of the text on which we had agreement on Monday needs to remain intact. If other proposals need consideration we will give them consideration. The position of the Government on some of the key issues raised again today, including protecting the Good Friday Agreement, recognising and retracting the principle of consent, ensuring that we maintain the integrity of the EU Single Market and maintaining North-South co-operation on an all island economy basis ensures that regardless of how the negotiations go, if and when we move to phase 2 we can reassure people that there will not be a re-emergence of a hard border on the island of Ireland. It will also mean that we will protect citizens' rights in Northern Ireland, the common travel area, which people take for granted in the context of Brexit, and peace funding commitments which have been made.

Many issues are subject to negotiation. We accept the British Government is trying to move this process forward in good faith. We want to work with it rather than against it on that, but Ireland has real concerns which are important to the country and its future, and to the island and in future. We have an obligation to ensure that we act accordingly.

I agree with the Tánaiste. The concerns are truly national and island-wide, North to South and east to west. We have consistently told the Tánaiste and Taoiseach that where they pursue and secure those national interests we will back them and applaud them for their efforts. That is why clarity is so important at this juncture. The Tánaiste has described the very scenario to which we subscribe, namely, the maintenance of the Good Friday Agreement in all of its parts, including citizens' rights, the purview of the European Court of Justice, access to the European courts and, critically, the North remaining within the customs union and Single Market.

At this juncture, the Dáil deserves a clear statement that the Government will not agree to anything which forces the North from the customs union and the Single Market. In the absence of that kind of clarity and a deal which secures that we are undoubtedly headed towards a border on the island of Ireland, the undermining of the Good Friday Agreement and everything else that might flow from that.

I am not questioning the bona fides of the Tánaiste or the consistency of his public utterances, rather, I acknowledge them heartily. I ask for a statement of clarity, and a simple "Yes" or "No" will do. Can he confirm for the House that he will not agree to any deal which takes the North of Ireland out of the Single Market and the customs union?

I can confirm that the position of the Government has not changed. This week, Deputy McDonald heard the Taoiseach and I outline our position in regard to the negotiations. As the Taoiseach said yesterday, this is a sensitive negotiation at a very sensitive time. Deputy McDonald will not get statements from which will stoke up what is already a difficult relationship management exercise.

The Taoiseach and I intend to hold to what we said this week. Of course, we also want to be helpful in trying terms of trying to move this process on and provide reassurance for people on all sides that what the Government is advocating is good for everyone living on the island and can also be good for Britain. We will not support anything that, in our view, risks the re-emergence of a hard border on the island in the context of these negotiations.

The Tánaiste did not answer the question. Is the answer "Yes" or "No"?

I am not going to get dragged into the agenda of one political party. We have-----

Tánaiste, let us not have a conversation about it please.

We have an input into a negotiation which is formally continuing. Most people in the House will understand the sensitivities of that and the reasons why I should be somewhat cautious about what I say and how I say it. In that regard, let me reassure the Deputy that the statements we have made this week as a Government still stand and we will continue to act in the interests of the country as a whole.