Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that comprehensive overview. A lot of the questions I had prepared have already been posed. I will try to flesh out some of the Minister's answers to Deputy Howlin. Deputy Howlin mentioned the fact that Commission President von der Leyen spoke today about the EU having teeth in terms of the enforcement of the TCA. We all share the hope that the agreement is ratified by vote tomorrow morning. Judging by the tone of the debate in the European Parliament, it will be ratified but taking those comments into account, it is very reassuring to hear that the Minister is speaking so regularly to Vice-President Šefovi. What role, formal or informal, does the Irish Government have vis-à-visthe implementation and monitoring of the TCA and the protocol aspect of the withdrawal agreement? The Minister referenced the wobble in relation to Article 16 in January and when we met the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, previously at this committee he referred to the possibility of developing an early warning system or something less formal. What is the role of the Irish Government, given that no other member state is more affected by the TCA and the protocol? The Irish Government's proactive role in the European Council and the Minister's own proactive role has been vital throughout the Brexit process.

There has been much talk about the implementation of the protocol. To be frank, it has clearly been politicised on the ground in Northern Ireland for obvious reasons but there has been talk about a possible EU-UK veterinary agreement and an agreement on SPS which will move the UK closer to EU standards and that would make a lot of the checks required under the protocol redundant. Does the Minister have an opinion or an update on that? Is it a possibility?

It is great to hear that the British-Irish Intergovernmental Council, BIIGC, is due to meet soon. One can talk about Ireland's role in improving the EU-UK relationship but in terms of the crucial Anglo-Irish relationship, constant and consistent meetings of the BIIGC and the North-South Ministerial Council are more important now than at any time since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. There must be a push to formalise those meetings. It should not be the case that the BIIGC would only meet on an ad hocbasis when required. Such meetings should simply be in the calendar. In that way, we de-dramatise them and ensure that the relationships between politicians and between Government officials remain constant.