Dr. Pat Ivory:

I thank the Senator. The protocol and the implementation of the Ireland and Northern Ireland protocol - it is important to remember it is for Ireland and Northern Ireland - is a critical part of the withdrawal agreement, as I mentioned in my opening address. We have regular and frequent contact with our business partners in Northern Ireland, and the IBEC-CBI joint business council meets on a regular basis and is very committed to developing business on a shared island basis.

IBEC has also had much contact with the British Embassy and the UK mission to the EU to understand the UK's challenges and views relating to both the implementation of the protocol and the implementation of the EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement. We have run a number of sessions both jointly with other business partners in Ireland and we had one just a couple of weeks ago with the key negotiators on the UK side of the trade and co-operation agreement and the Ireland and Northern Ireland protocol. That was open to our membership and we had a very good level of engagement. This is something that is very much a part of what we believe should be progressed on a business front to further develop the opportunities while dealing with the challenges that this agreement and the protocol will throw up for business.

We are also working in partnership with organisations within the UK, including the CBI. We also work with Make UK, the major manufacturing group within the UK, which has very close links with manufacturing in Northern Ireland. Mr. Willoughby can give some results published today from the Northern Ireland manufacturing side.