Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said the contents of the British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit speech in Florence yesterday can form the basis for progress in talks between the EU and UK in the coming weeks.
However, he said the question of whether the EU would open the talks process to include the future trading relationship with the UK was entirely dependent on how much actual progress is made in the next round of talks between Britain and the EU negotiating team led by Michel Barnier.
The EU 27 leaders are due to make a decision on whether the talks have made sufficient progress at a summit in Brussels next month.
Before then the Irish Budget will be published, with Mr Donohoe saying it will contain a four-year plan setting out capital spending in areas like transport, health and housing.
But he told the Dublin Economics Workshop that current spending, and reform of income tax, will continue to be decided on an annual basis.
Macron says UK clarification needed over Ireland
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that greater clarity is needed on three key issues if negotiations on Britain leaving the European Union are to make headway.
Mr Macron said a number of issues would have to be clarified, including the question of Ireland, before other matters could be tackled.
As well as the Irish issue Mr Macron said there would have to be clarification on the settlement of European citizens and the financial terms of Brexit.
He was speaking following the British Prime Minister Theresa May's keynote speech on Brexit yesterday in which she proposed a two-year transition period after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.
Mrs May said it is in everyone's interests to find a creative solution on a future trading relationship with the European Union.
She confirmed that the UK intends to leave both the single market and customs union, but said it was in an "unprecedented" position to forge a new trading relationship.
Mrs May proposed a two-year transition period for the UK after its leaves the EU.
Neither the European Economic Area relationship enjoyed by countries like Norway nor a Canadian-style free trade agreement would be "best for the UK or best for the EU", she said, adding: "We can do so much better than that."
She called on European leaders and institutions to be "creative" in designing a new economic partnership with the UK and said there was good justification for this level of "ambition and optimism", because of the close existing links and shared values between Britain and the EU and the EU's record of forging creative agreements with countries outside the union.
