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

I thank Mr. Andrews for the presentation. It is great to see him, albeit virtually.

I will pick up on some matters, the most important of which is his final point. The Chairman alluded to it, namely, the suggested parliamentary structure between Belfast and Brussels, which would be really progressive and important. I would appreciate it if Mr. Andrews could, for the sake of the meeting and the public record, take a moment to elaborate on the idea. A number of people in Northern Ireland have also raised the prospect of observer status for Northern Irish representatives and it something we have seen before in the case of accession states, for example, Croatia, before they join the EU. They did not have voting rights but they were able to participate and shadow the work, particularly in the European Parliament, as well as the European Committee of the Regions on a local authority level. What are the thoughts of Mr. Andrews on that?

I have two specific questions on the trade and co-operation agreement, TCA. I raised the first with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, last week. In an address to the European Parliament, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke about enforcement capabilities and the fact that the European Union will have teeth in order to ensure this agreement is followed. What sort of role will the European Parliament play in this? Crucially, what is the role of member state parliaments and governments when it comes to enforcement? The enforcement of the withdrawal agreement has led to a number of legal challenges from the European Commission against the British Government over the implementation of the protocol and various unilateral mechanisms so I am interested in how that will fall in with the TCA.

The second point concerns improvement. We are all quite aware that while we are glad there is a TCA and it was not a no-deal position, it is relatively thin and the agreement certainly pales in comparison with what we had when the UK was part of the European Union. On the basis of a small margin in a referendum result, the British Government has pursued a very hard Brexit, which is disappointing. What is the scope to build on this agreement and perhaps get greater co-operation? I am specifically thinking of areas such as veterinary matters or sanitary and phytosanitary concerns. This might take pressure off the protocol in one way while ensuring the EU and the UK can remain very close partners.