The Taoiseach has appealed for political parties in Northern Ireland to move quickly to establish a government following elections next Thursday.
Addressing the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, Micheál Martin said: "It is vital for the future of Northern Ireland and for relationships on these islands that the political parties take their mandates from the Assembly elections, and move quickly to form a new Executive".
He urged them to "live up to the commitments of the Good Friday Agreement", saying that this "is what the people of Northern Ireland want".
Mr Martin also insisted that political leadership can help in "getting beyond the issues around Brexit and the Protocol that have hindered the peace process over the last six years."
"We need to return the focus to working collectively to support progress and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland and across this island," he said.
The Taoiseach is updating the committee on the Shared Island initiative, which he launched 18 months ago.
Mr Martin has "had good engagement with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and with political leaders in Northern Ireland" on the issue.
"And we want to do significantly more with both the Executive and the UK Government," he added.
He said that more than 1,300 citizens and civic leaders have participated in nine events so far in the Shared Island Dialogue series.
The Taoiseach has warned that legislation currently being drafted by the British government "could be very damaging to Northern Ireland".
Mr Martin said that the Borders and Nationalities Bill "is not finalised yet".
The Government is working to ensure that "it does not interfere with mobility on the island", as it could be "very damaging to tourism in Northern Ireland - a whole range of issues that they clearly haven't foreseen", he said.
"Aspects of life could be hindered here," Mr Martin said.
"This is crazy stuff - it's off the wall," Sinn Féin Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile said.
"I agree," Mr Martin said. "It's hard to comprehend, from our perspective, how this could get onto the table," he added, saying that it "runs contrary to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement".
The Taoiseach said that the standing of the Northern Assembly and Executive has been damaged by people failing to take up their seats or to form an executive.
Micheál Martin said that "there is an urgency" that an executive be formed "irrespective of what way the votes fall" in elections next week.
He told the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that "far too often" the lack of an assembly or executive "probably damaged politics as well, if you contrast it with public esteem for the Scottish Assembly".
He was responding to Stephen Farry MP, of the Alliance Party.
