Mr. Stuart Anderson:

I thank the Senator for his questions. To answer his first question, from my most recent conversations with the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, there are ten arrangements in place at this time, but most regulators are talking to one another and trying to plug the gaps on a regulator-to-regulator basis.

What we are calling for, as the Senator mentioned, is some form of bilateral agreement that is reciprocal. The question of the trade and co-operation agreement must then be brought in. Any bilateral agreement concluded would have to flex and respond to whatever agreements are in place between the UK and the EU at the wider level, because that framework is in place for regulator-to-regulator recognition between the UK and the EU. I did not mention in my initial comments that there are a number of areas where there is a challenge. One which persists is that the recognition of a qualification is contingent upon, for example, a professional having residency in Ireland. For the likes of transport managers, the certificate of professional competence qualification is dependent upon their residence in Ireland. As a result of that, there are some peculiar challenges that we face along the way. As to the suggestion that we would be able to put something in place that reflects overall what existed before the end of the transition period, that is not something I would envisage. However, we can go a significant way down that road.