Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his time. I acknowledge the role played by his officials right across the remit of his Department over the past five years and his own contribution in his time there. It has been extraordinary.

I wish to raise a few points. The Minister briefly mentioned the triggering of Article 16 and stated the EU moved very quickly to reverse its position. What impact did that have on the protocol?

I note the Minister emphasised the positive personal relationships that he has with Vice-President Šefovi and previously with Mr. Barnier. Do we not need, as Deputy Richmond referred to and what Mr. Barnier said, something more formal than depending on personalities getting on? What changes were implemented as a consequence of the triggering of Article 16 to ensure that, as well as the very important relationships and personal connections, there is actually a mechanism to avoid that happening again?

The Minister spoke in his remarks of constructive engagements between Vice-President Šefovi and Lord Frost. He went through the practical elements of those and there does seem to be progress.

We would like to "de-dramatise", to use a term that has been used through Brexit, what the BIIGC is all about, as opposed to every time one is triggered, it raised hackles in certain political parties because they do not like the two Governments talking about Northern Ireland without them being present or whatever. Just like we should have North-South Ministerial Council meetins

The Minister also mentioned that there are half a dozen political issues. Will the Minister give us a flavour of these? Are they quite complicated? What are the chances of resolving them? With regard to a sustainable and collaborative way forward, the Prime Minister is knocking the barnacles off the deal. Does he understand how experienced the Minister is in barnacle management through sailing? Does this type of language not suggest that we still have difficulties with language and difficulties regarding the need for constructive diplomacy in resolving all of these issues in all of our best interests?