The last few days have been dominated by rows about communication and the ability of the Government to spin. It would be useful if some of those skills could be applied to the Brexit conundrum because there appears to be a unique difficulty communicating with the British Prime Minister. In her speech last Friday, Mrs. May indicated she and the Taoiseach agreed that both our countries would work alongside each other and the European Commission to find a solution on the Border. She appeared to suggest that the Taoiseach had taken a shared responsibility to find a solution. Her exact words were, "the Taoiseach and I agreed when we met recently that our teams and the Commission should now do just that." Speaking on "Morning Ireland" on Monday, however, the Taoiseach said there would be no three-way negotiations and that Ireland would conduct its talks as part of the EU 27.

It is beyond farcical that, 20 months into negotiations, weeks away from a crucial EU Council summit and little over a year before the UK actually leaves the European Union, the United Kingdom is still deaf to the fact that Ireland is negotiating as part of a bloc of 27, that the problems with the Border are a result of its red lines, and that it is incumbent upon the United Kingdom, as a country that has decided democratically to leave, to come up with solutions. On Monday in Westminster, the British Prime Minister proposed the US–Canada border as an example of a solution. It is a classic hard border. The EU Commission has translated the December agreement into legal terms but immediately the draft was published, the British Prime Minister ruled it out as completely unacceptable and as an agreement that no Prime Minister of Britain could sign up to, yet that is exactly what she had done in December.

The undeniable truth now is that the irreconcilable fudge at the heart of the backstop is that it is not possible for there to be no border on the island of Ireland or between this island and Britain if Britain pulls out of the Single Market and the customs union. To quote Michel Barnier, "The clock is ticking." The probability of no deal is increasing every day. It appears that even agreements hard negotiated can be resiled from with ease immediately after they are made.

Is it not time for this House and the Government to state, in absolutely clear terms, that the backstop position which was formally agreed between the EU and the UK last December cannot be achieved if the UK, as a whole, is not a member of the customs union or does not apply the rules of the Single Market? Is that not the fundamental truth that must be now clearly stated?

I have no difficulties communicating with Prime Minister May. We meet periodically and speak on the phone. We will meet again the week after next, following my return from the United States, when we will both attend the EU Council in Brussels. As I said on "Morning Ireland", the negotiations that occur will do so between European Union, on the one hand, and the United Kingdom, on the other. There will be no negotiations between Britain and Ireland. We negotiate as part of the EU, as one of the 27 member states, led by the Barnier task force and we are stronger for that. The United Kingdom might be starting to understand that negotiating with a bloc ten times bigger than itself is not a strong position in which to be. We will not allow ourselves to be cleaved from the European Union and any negotiations that occur will take place between the European Union and the United Kingdom, with our input into the European Union's position. Over the past year or so, we have successfully ensured that Irish issues are Europe's issues and we have the unanimous support of Prime Ministers across the Union for our position. This was demonstrated most recently by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel from Luxembourg who visited Ireland on Monday.

That is not to say that we cannot talk bilaterally. It makes sense that the Irish Government should talk to the Government of the United Kingdom which, after all, is the Government next door. We discuss things such as the common travel area, for example, a bilateral arrangement that we have and that is recognised by the European Union, which allows us to travel freely, north-south, east-west, between Britain and Ireland. We want to keep talking about that so as to ensure that it is protected. We can discuss with the UK Government options and solutions for avoiding a hard border on the island and any physical infrastructure or any associated customs and checks. It is reasonable that we do this and we have a responsibility to do it. I do not want to be in a situation in a year's time whereby, despite everyone's best efforts, somehow we end up in a chaotic hard Brexit with no agreement. I want to be sure that the Government I lead does everything possible to avoid a hard border on our island. That is why it is appropriate that we should have discussions with the United Kingdom, but talking about solutions and looking at options are not negotiations; the only negotiations can occur bilaterally between the EU and the UK.

I am also very conscious that there are so many people who live north of the Border who are Irish citizens and believe themselves to be Irish. That is why they cannot be left behind ever again and why we will move might and main and do all we can do as a Government to ensure it does not happen.

The words "moving might and main" are lovely but we have been hearing them for a year. It is an inescapable truth that we are heading towards a hard border. In the past hour, Donald Tusk published what the Financial Times has said is a rebuff of Theresa May's vision for trade after Brexit, laying out a narrow view of future relations between the UK and the EU. The negotiating position of the 27 is now, "Divergence in external tariffs and internal rules as well as absence of common institutions and a shared legal system, necessitates checks and controls to uphold the integrity of the EU single market". Despite all the talk, is it not a fact that we are now heading towards a hard border on the island of Ireland and a border between the island of Ireland and our biggest trading partner, the United Kingdom?

I thank the Deputy.

Is it not time that we actually faced that reality and tried to find a solution before we slip over the edge?

It is much more than words. The December joint report is not just words; it is written down in black and white. That is a political agreement and one by which the United Kingdom Government continues to say it abides.

He said it is impossible to deliver.

We have a draft withdrawal agreement, a legal text with an Irish protocol, which achieves what we seek to achieve, namely, ensuring that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The Prime Minister said that it is undoable.

We have a solution, namely, option C. The question is whether there might be a better solution and that is what we now need to explore. It is right that we should explore it and that is what the Government will do.