Mr. Aodhán Connolly:

Dr. Mike Johnston, who is part of our Northern Ireland business Brexit working group, is constantly pushing to make sure that Northern Ireland dairy produce can be part of EU free trade agreements, FTAs, be processed in Ireland and go across.

Approximately 35% of all NI milk goes South for production into the wonderful cheeses and dairy products made in the South and then exported. Not being part of those EU FTAs is a huge market loss. It was promised at the start but seems to have petered out. If we want to get to the position where there are opportunities we need to have a foot in both camps and access to that market.

It is not working 100% in many places either. In Great Britain, millions were spent in the press towards the end of the transition period saying, "Get ready to trade with Europe". Not one penny was spent saying, "Get ready to trade with Northern Ireland". The EU did not do that either.

What we have seen is that some in Great Britain see going to Northern Ireland as too much hassle and uncertainty. However, going to the EU is similar. For bottle manufacturers sending things to Germany, they are getting one in every three loads sent back because they are not right and obligations are not understood. A wonderful fabric retailer on the north coast of Northern Ireland is sending things to Sweden which are being sent back because they are GB goods without customs forms. Whereas under the protocol there is openness and an ability to move goods without customs friction and checks because we are administering the Single Market and customs union rules. We need GB and the EU to not only educate people that business can be done but to promote Northern Ireland and help us to bounce back from the big economic shock we experienced at the end of the transition period.

Long before the business Brexit working group came about, people such as Mr. Stephen Kelly, Manufacturing NI, and Mr. Seamus Leheny, Logistics UK, and I had a public profile. We had that public profile because the Assembly was not sitting. We were standing up for business and households, pushing to keep choice and affordability and to keep business competitive.

We would like to see the Assembly present a united front. Ripples were felt across Europe when the First Minister and deputy First Minister stood together and wrote to the EU outlining the need for a grace period and a trusted trader scheme to keep the shelves stocked in Northern Ireland. We need to get into the same space again with a strong united voice asking for the best for our economy and households.

We need to see that type of approach again, one where we hear a strong, united voice asking for what is best for our economy and households. We are not there yet but as much as business people are pragmatists and realists, we also have to be optimists, and we will continue to push for that.