Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I appreciate what the Minister of State has said. I will ask just two very quick questions. Is he happy enough that the structures exist such that we can deal with whatever modifications are needed for a better operationality of the Irish protocol? I am very glad he has reiterated what I myself would accept, that is, that the withdrawal agreement and the Irish protocol are international agreements and are not going anywhere. They are absolute necessities. Unionists are doing whatever unionists are doing, but some of the rhetoric and the likes of the letter of ultimatum from Michael Gove are not especially helpful. What has been our engagement with the British Government from the point of view of dialling down that rhetoric, particularly if it is only a case of fanning flames and it is not actually going anywhere? I accept that the British Government may be looking for modifications.

In that regard, I believe there is a difficulty in respect of a customs database to which the European Union is seeking access to facilitate addressing some of these problems.