Ms Nicola Byrne:

We will come back with very detailed information. The south east is where we are going to focus because we need the shortest point when shipping food. Perishable goods cannot spend an extra day trooping around the Irish Sea so it will have to be the south east by geography. If that happens, the three ports with tier 1 status will have to be looked again by the EU. If the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade wants to do something, it should talk to the Department with responsibility for the marine to discuss what point is on the shortest route if we cannot cross the UK. That is most likely Rosslare or somewhere in that neck of the woods. We cannot come from Foynes, around the bottom of the country and then across the channel to get to the Continent; we will have to go direct. That may mean looking at the status of our three ports. We may either have to increase the status of three to four or reconfigure.