Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not going to repeat what other speakers said, other than to say that the triggering of Article 16 was a serious mistake with serious political fall-out. What the committee is doing and intends to do at subsequent meetings is to find out what actually happened. We need to learn the lessons from it. I know the Minister said that we cannot really move on from it, but we will eventually. We need to learn the lessons and to move on from it eventually perhaps by, as other speakers said, putting the early warning system in place.

I have two questions and a few thoughts. Problems were always going to arise with the implementation of the protocol for business and consumers in Northern Ireland. It is fair to say that many businesses in Northern Ireland were simply not prepared for Brexit.

Trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been disrupted. Supermarkets in Northern Ireland have experienced shortages of time-sensitive goods, such as fresh produce and chilled meats. Many sorts of horror stories are emerging concerning people not being able to bring their pets into Northern Ireland from Great Britain because of issues with vaccination etc. It is clear in that context that practical and sensible modifications are needed regarding the operation of the protocol in Northern Ireland. Is the Minister of State satisfied that such practical and sensible modifications can be made to sort out these types of problems? Do such possibilities exist? For example, is an extension of the grace period a possibility?

My second question concerns the Northern Ireland peace process, which we are all worried about. The Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, and unionists in general have always seen the creation of a border in the Irish Sea as some sort of step in the direction of Irish unity and the holding of a border poll. Therefore, the sensitivities involved with this issue are clear to everybody. The DUP has not had a good Brexit. The party supported Brexit in the first place and then opposed the deal reached by the former British Prime Minister, Theresa May. The members of that party are of course going to exaggerate the consequences of the Northern Ireland protocol for political purposes. We saw the DUP put forward a five-point plan to have the protocol abolished, which of course is not going to happen. The party is, however, calling on the UK Government to invoke Article 16 and to have the protocol abolished, if possible.

In respect of the threat to relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, I was interested to hear the Minister of State say that there has been a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council. The DUP had threatened to cease co-operation with such bodies, and that would be a serious issue. We all agree with the call to calm things down because of the sensitivities involved in this situation. I take it that the Minister of State agrees that North-South relations are extremely important, but will he reassure me that things are being done to repair the damage done? We are obviously not responsible for that damage, but we are seriously concerned about this deterioration in relations. We must improve those relations and take positive steps to bring that improvement about.