Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a question.

I was quite struck by Mr. Connolly's opening comments on the narrative or the commentary around the shelves being bare in Northern Ireland, there being no stock coming in, and that that was not a true reflection from his and his organisation's perspective. That is the first I have heard on that side of things, and it is good to get that perspective. As to the difficulties being experienced, and I pose this question to both Mr. Connolly and Mr. Anderson, the Northern Ireland protocol is so important and both witnesses have touched upon the fact, and I have made my own personal views clear on this, that it presents a significant opportunity for Northern Ireland because it gets access to both the GB and the European markets. This does not happen anywhere else and there is an opportunity there. I was heartened to hear from Mr. Anderson that he has been having conversations about businesses which want to invest in Northern Ireland because of that market environment. We have had presentations to this committee where, for example, the Economic and Social Research Institute made the point that if there is continuing uncertainty around the future of the protocol, businesses may be reluctant to invest initially because they are not quite sure if the protocol will remain in place for the foreseeable future. What are our witnesses' thoughts on that particular comment on the need to provide some certainty on the future of the protocol and perhaps reassure potential investing businesses that it will be there for future?

That brings me to a linked question which touches upon by Mr. Connolly’s comments around the importation of goods and the ease of importing from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. It is really important to communities in Northern Ireland that the trade and access between GB and Northern Ireland is maintained and there are no significant impediments to trade. Are those challenges Mr. Connolly mentioned still there to the same extent and are businesses working through that? Was that part of the bedding-in period or teething problems for the first few weeks? Does he think businesses have now got to grips with that, the shelves are back to where they need to be, and there is not a significant problem with goods getting in? These are the kinds of problems which, if we do not address them, could have a knock-on impact on the protocol. We need to take these criticisms and concerns very seriously and ensure we address concerns raised by all communities in the North to protect the protocol in the long term to the benefit of everybody.

I ask either Mr. Anderson or Mr. Connolly to deal with those points please, as they wish. They may also wish to make some closing remarks as we will be wrapping up on the hour as we are not permitted to be in the room beyond the two-hour mark. I thank our witnesses.