The Taoiseach has said that "nobody can say for sure" what will happen on the border if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal.

Leo Varadkar was speaking as the House of Commons prepares for a series of indicative votes aimed at finding a way forward that can command majority support.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May elected not to put the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to the vote for the third time today - admitting that it would not be approved.

She has pledged to bring it forward at a later date - and developments today suggest some of her harshest critics may be about to fall in line.

This morning, high-profile Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees Mogg admitted the deal was better than not leaving the EU at all.

Former Tory leader William Hague echoed the comments this afternoon, along with former minister Crispin Blunt.

Jacob Rees-Mogg arrives at Westminster ahead a Brexit debate in the House of Commons, 12-03-2019. Image: Steve Parsons/PA Wire/PA Images

Brexit

If the agreement is not approved by March 29th, the UK will have to tell Europe how it plans to move forward before April 12th.

Yesterday, the European Commission warned that a no-deal on April 12th is now “increasingly likely.”

In the Dáil, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been under pressure to spell out what no deal would mean for the border.

"What will happen in a 'no-deal' scenario between Northern Ireland and Ireland at the border - nobody can say for sure," he said.

"What we will do is we will expect and we will hold the UK Government to its existing commitments.

"Its commitments in the Good Friday Agreement, its commitments to ensure free movement of people and free trade north and south, and its commitments made in December 2017 to maintain full regulatory alignment."

DUP opposition

Despite today's comments from Tory Brexiteers, the DUP, which supports Mrs May's minority government under a confidence and supply arrangement, has shown little sign it is moving toward softening its opposition to the deal.

Reports indicate the party now believes a long extension of the Brexit process  would be preferable to the deal.

The party has been in talks with Conservative ministers over the potential for a 'Stormont Lock' to ensure new EU laws applied in Northern Ireland would be accepted by the rest of the UK under the backstop.

Those talks reportedly ended without agreement last week amid concerns the plan would be unacceptable to hard-line Tory Brexiteers or the other devolved administrations.

Long extension

This afternoon Sky News reported that DUP MPs are moving towards "a long extension, perhaps a year or more, which would mean a change of leader and a different approach."

A longer extension would have to be agreed by the EU - however, France President Emmanuel Macron warned against it last week.

"It is absolutely essential to be clear in these days and these moments, because it is a matter of the good functioning of the EU," he said.

"We cannot have what I would call an excessive extension which would harm our capacity to decision and to act."

DUP Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson has warned that the party views a 'no-deal' situation as preferable to the withdrawal agreement.