Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I might add to the humour before I start. I was taken by my colleague, Senator Martin, stating that if the Prime Minister says it is possible, we should go for it. I take the view that if the PM says it is possible, it generally is not.

I thank Mr. McGrane for his presentation and his work. Others have commented on it and it has been a source of great importance throughout this debate. As he represents business across the divide, I am interested if he could share with us the thinking in businesses directly affected right now by continued discussion on the existence of the Northern Ireland protocol, more particularly the suggestion by some that it is a currency that will change dramatically in the not-too-distant future. The way in which the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, seems to be battening down, has indicated right from the start that his focus will be - I am paraphrasing but this is my reading of it - dismantling that agreement. Taking into consideration that certainty is such an important part of investment, what is Mr. McGrane hearing from his members around their continued interest in investing in the relationship and business opportunity that is there? Has he seen any lack or hesitancy about proceeding with investment in those areas? That is the first issue.

At the beginning of Brexit coming into play with the agreement that was reached, there were some considerable difficulties in logistics, especially for some of the confectionary companies that have a rather interesting supply chain mechanism. They purchase in bulk in Europe, much of the product that comes to Ireland and is broken down, some gets utilised here and some gets re-exported back to the UK. That had a significant impact in the early stages. Is that still the case or have some of those issues been ironed out?