Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Lord Kinnoull. I will speak myself and if any members want to follow up afterwards, they can do so. To go back to the original question of what we can do to look at future relationships, the work has already started, including the work that the witnesses have carried out as a committee on the United Kingdom's Internal Market Bill. When one goes through it, it is obvious that front and centre of that work is protection of the Good Friday Agreement. Looking at the witnesses' conclusions about the pragmatic compromise and providing proportionate safeguards, they have really delved into that in the report. This interaction and engagement is all about building confidence and this meeting has helped things along.

With regard to the Belfast Agreement, we continue to use the language about the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland. I think everybody knows what we are talking about. That has been reinforced repeatedly in negotiations between the EU and United Kingdom. One area where I feel we will have difficulty, as Deputy Haughey alluded to, is with fisheries. I know everybody raises the issue of fisheries and we are all with Lord Wood in saying we are not experts on fisheries. We are all experts on what fish tastes like but that is potentially as far as it goes. I live beside the sea and I am certainly not an expert. I know that once we get into the realm of sovereignty relating to fisheries, it is not just about fishermen. There is an emotive connection too. Great Britain is an island and Ireland is an island. There is a community connection. When one considers the pelagic sector, with mackerel spawning off the coast of Galway, spending time off the coast of Mayo and ending up in British waters off the coast of Scotland, we have issues relating to fishermen's rights and claims on the fish. Upwards of 45% of our fishing effort is in the pelagic sector, which is a multi-million euro industry, and it happens in British waters. It is a complex area. I know the witnesses' report did not go into sector-specific matters. It was a broad report. In future, if the witnesses are asking what we can do with regard to future engagement, we need to keep that on our radar, both with regard to the sensitivity of it and using language such as proportionate safeguards. An analysis of that has to be carried out.

We have a few minutes left and will go back to Senators Chambers and Martin.

Lord Oates asked a question about landing zones. I will be guided by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. We will leave that in the realm of the deliberations between EU negotiators and the United Kingdom negotiators. We might park that matter for the important talks that we will have in the coming period.