The Taoiseach has said it would be a “significant failure” if the EU and UK do not agree a post-Brexit trade deal this week.

Speaking this morning, Micheál Martin said it will be challenging to close the gaps that remain, but a deal can be done.

He was speaking after chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier gave a “gloomy and downbeat” assessment of where the talks were at.

Speaking to ambassadors and MEPs in Brussels this morning, he dismissed suggestions there had been a breakthrough on fisheries and said a deal must be reached by Wednesday.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there is still a lot of work to do.

“Overall, I think it is in the best interests of all concerned that a proper trade deal is agreed,” he said.

“Because our respective economies across Europe and within the UK would suffer, unnecessarily in my view, in the event of a no deal.

“When I say unnecessarily, I mean a deal can be arrived at. I think it would be a significant failure if we were to end up with no deal.”

EU negotiator Michel Barnier outside his hotel in London, 05-12-2020. Image: Alberto Pezzali/AP/Press Association Images

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, the Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said Mr Barnier’s assessment was not hopeful.

“There was some media activity last night about a possible fisheries deal but I have to say, listening to what Michel Barnier told our ambassador and all the other EU ambassadors, there are a lot of issues still there to be discussed and we are at a difficult stage in the negotiations,” he said.

The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are due to speak this evening as the talks continue.

Any deal still needs to be ratified by the UK Parliament, European Parliament and individual member states.

Should negotiators fail to reach a deal, the UK will leave the EU on World Trade Organisation trading rules on January 1st.

Meanwhile the controversial Internal Markets Bill will today return to the House of Commons.

The UK Government has admitted that the bill breaches international law by overriding parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

Elements of the bill which breached the Northern Ireland protocol were removed by the House of lords in recent weeks; however, the Commons will today decide whether to return them.

Talks between the UK negotiator David Frost and EU negotiator Michel Barnier resumed yesterday after an hour-long call between Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen on Saturday evening.

In a joint statement following their discussion, they said that while “progress has been achieved in many areas... significant differences remain on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries.”