Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Nobody wants a border but my point, confirmed by the Tánaiste, is that this agreement is not a guarantee of no border at any time in the future. That is simply not how the process works and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise. It is also disingenuous to suggest this is a permanent arrangement. There is a rolling consent mechanism whereby a vote must take place every four years, maybe every eight years, to reaffirm that the status quoremains. That is not permanent, it has an uncertainty hanging over it every four years which is most unsatisfactory to businesses on this island. A business person thinking about investing in Northern Ireland does not know whether it will be aligned with the customs union, the Single Market and the all-island electricity market because that could change every four years. An investor will be cautious in those circumstances and will wait and see how things pan out over the next four, eight or 12 years. This is not a permanent solution and we cannot say that it is. To put that evidence before the committee is incorrect.