Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are very grateful for Mr. Šefovi's time this morning and his participation in the meeting. I acknowledge his contribution and also his willingness to engage with the committee on a more permanent basis in future. I think he gets a sense from this morning's meeting that there is a desire and an appetite to do that. It is very significant to have him with us today, albeit virtually, in our national Parliament. We are very grateful for that.

Without going back over old ground, the committee does not want to enter a blame-game scenario, nor do we want heads to roll. What we are specifically looking for is accountability, transparency and consequences. I know Mr. Šefovi has emphasised time and again that Article 16 was not fully triggered. It is a matter of language, however. I assume a group of individuals, rather than one person, compiled a draft report of such significant impact and that those individuals knew the potential repercussions. Senator Martin suggested that the iceberg was avoided, but a bit of damage was still done to the wing and we are still living with those consequences. It is very important that the individuals involved in preparing the draft report know about the consequences and are spoken to at length about them. As a committee we wanted to know who these individuals were and what their motivation was, but I will not go back over that ground again. Mr. Šefovi stated clearly that he wants to focus on putting measures in place to ensure this does not happen again. It is a missed opportunity to have more consequences, transparency and accountability but it is never too late.

However, my two questions are as follows. What is the timeframe for the implementation of the early warning system? Second, what is the potential for enhanced Irish representation within the Directorate General for Trade, or other Directorates General likely to make decisions under the protocol, to ensure that there is a proper understanding available in the decision-making process of the implications of the protocol for Northern Ireland?

We will leave the final word to Leas-Uachtarán. Apologies for the Irish class today. He has been introduced to new Irish vocabulary. He can now introduce himself at the Commission as the Leas-Uachtarán when he is meeting with our Irish MEPs. Táimid fíorbhuíoch as an Leas-Uachtarán as an bpáirt a ghlac sé sa díospóireacht seo linn inniu. We are most grateful to the Vice-President for taking part in this discussion today. Arís, go raibh maith agat.