Mr. Colm Markey:

On the link with MEPs, it is vital that we engage in that meaningful way. Conversations like this are very important.

The protocol undermining the trade and co-operation agreement is something we need to be very conscious of from our end. If we allow that kind of a narrative or conversation to begin, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is an international legally binding agreement. Unless we allow its credibility to be undermined there is no reason it should not hold. It is very important that our engagement and discussions are about progressing it rather than questioning its strength. It is very important that we do not create a narrative that others would feed into on that.

Ms Walsh mentioned the €100 million towards the fisheries end. While there is a focus on ensuring a proper spend of the money and appropriation of funds, there is significant discretion at national level in how that money can be spent. Therefore, it is important that it is used flexibly. From the fisheries side, the big challenge is how one compensates fishers for loss of quota or fishing rights. Anything you do in the area of decommissioning or compensation does not wash with fishers who ultimately just want to fish. I welcome the report that is coming out from the Government task force in that regard this week. It is a real challenge to determine how one can spend that effectively. It is not straightforward. There is significant discretion for the rest of it at national level, however, although much of the spending was before the timeframe. It is not just about national governments - it is equally about private sector investment. The funding can be directed in that route too, and that is very important.

The status of products of mixed origin is a major issue, and not just for creameries in the Border area. The whiskey industry has a very integrated supply chain across the island. If that supply chain starts to break up because it is not practical to move produce North or South to get it bottled, for instance, it will cause a major issue at a political level and at an economic level. It is a major problem in the dairy sector and, equally, in other sectors like the whiskey sector, which is ultimately all about exports. If the export of whiskey is going to be challenged in relation to its eligibility for free trade agreements, that would be very significant. It is something that needs to be looked at more.

On sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS checks, my sense, based on Maroš Šefcovic's comments today and the meetings this week, is that the tolerance at European level for the UK position is waning significantly. If there is another move similar to the previous move when unilateral action was taken, I do not think it will be received at all well at European level. There is real concern in this respect. It is something we have to look at. I understand that there has been a significant lack of engagement at the North-South Ministerial Council with Edwin Poots and the last number of months. That could have helped with SPS and particularly with products of mixed origin. More work needs to be done on that. Generally, if people are willing to engage, there is no doubt that solutions can be found on SPS and on products of mixed origin. The problem is the lack of willingness to engage. The mood in Brussels and Strasbourg this week shows a significant lack of tolerance for any more posturing from the UK. Europe is seriously considering going down the legal route. There is no doubt that any sort of legal moves will leave Ireland as collateral damage. We need to try to get a situation where we can make meaningful progress. The North-South Ministerial Council is a classic example of a structure through which progress could be made, but there is no engagement. We have to be careful that we express full confidence in the structures that are available. There are legally binding agreements. We need to put it to others to stand up to them. If we question them in any way, it makes it easy for those who want to undermine them. There is a legal basis to this international agreement. Under no circumstances should we tolerate any language of dilution that anyone might try to use in this area.