Government fears MPs would ‘twist’ Irish no-deal Brexit plans

The Government could not inform the public about its plans for a no-deal Brexit because they could be "twisted" by some MPs in Westminster, the Tánaiste has said.

Simon Coveney told the Dáil that "an internal discussion is taking place, but it is important that the options are weighed up and that we agree on something before we start informing the public".

“Otherwise, anything we say will be twisted by some in Westminster to get a political message across that is not accurate.”

This is what had been happening, he said. “People stand up in parliament in Westminster and misrepresent the reality. They will continue to do that and it does not make much sense for us to continue to make comments that allow them to do that.”

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The Tánaiste was responding to Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who expressed the frustration of the Opposition that they were getting no information about what might be required in the event of no deal.

Mr Ryan said Opposition parties and TDs had been “very sensitive” when discussing any such necessary arrangements “for fear of inadvertently influencing the UK debate”.

But he said “red lines have been crossed that could not have been crossed previously” which might lead to “some sort of collective sense and some idea of where the UK is going”.

But he said in the meantime “this House cannot just state we have no plan in response to those seeking clarity regarding what we would do in a no-deal scenario”.

The Dublin Bay South TD said the closer it gets to a no-deal Brexit and the more preparation there is for it “the more obvious the case for the backstop becomes”.

Chlorinated chicken

The Taoiseach and German chancellor Angela Merkel were debating how to protect the single market, including animal checks, one of the most difficult issues in the event of no deal.

“What happens in the case that we suspect there is chlorinated chicken in the UK market?”

"Glanbia has said today that it brings 130 million litres of milk from Northern Ireland to the South every year." He said farmers needed to know what would happen to that milk rather than waiting until the day after Brexit.

Other issues included the treatment of chlorinated chicken or steroid-treated beef.

He warned: “We must start to give the Irish public and farmers some understanding of what that might mean.

“Leaving it until after a crash-out would not be doing a service to our people.”

The Tánaiste said those who argued that some alternative arrangements could work easily on the Border and without the use of the backstop “are making false arguments and have been doing so for months. There is no easy fix.”

He said there was no alternative arrangement or “magic solution” that does the same job as the backstop, which it to keep the all-island economy functioning as it does today.

Stressing that they could not inform the public before they had agreement, Mr Coveney said it had happened over and over again “with regard to alternatives to the backstop”.

Some issues were “pretty clear” but there were “awkward issues” that had to be dealt with to avoid any infrastructure on or near the Border and, at the same time, to protect the single market.

“Unfortunately, we cannot and do not control any decisions in Northern Ireland and so checks in Larne are not in our gift.”

He added: “We cannot protect the normal functioning of an all-island economy, which is what the backstop does, but we can certainly prevent the security issues caused by physical border checks from arising. We intend to avoid such checks.”