Mr. William Lavelle:

I thank the Senators for their questions. As regards the protocol, the Irish drinks industry, not just the Irish whiskey industry, operates on an all-island basis and, as such, is highly committed to the protection and ongoing maintenance of the protocol. Approximately two years ago, we calculated that there are 23,000 truck movements of alcohol across the Border each year. That could be whiskey moving between distilleries for blending, but it could also be beer moving from South to North for canning or bottling. We are a wholly integrated all-island industry and the protocol plays a critical role in protecting those cross-Border supply chains from checks and tariffs, which is critically important.

Senator Dooley referred to negotiation. It is critical here. Mr. Mulvihill referred to the network of committees that have been set up under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. They need to be leveraged and used to overcome as many of these issues as possible. Indeed, some of the issues we are discussing in the context of rules of origin will only be addressed through negotiations between the European Union and trading partners. In the same way that the UK, when it was negotiating its continuity trade agreements, was able to negotiate safeguards for goods with EU inputs, negotiation is critical here.

That brings me to my most important ask of the Government, which is that we need it to be a champion for reform of rules of origin. We are disappointed that the European Commission to date has not seemed willing to push the reform of rules of origin in upcoming and new trade negotiations. There seems to be reticence on the part of the European Commission in that regard. I acknowledge the very positive statements of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, on these matters, but we need the Government to push much harder in Brussels to ensure that the Directorate-General for Trade takes a different approach when it comes to thinking about rules of origin in the post Brexit environment. We cannot continue negotiating trade agreements in the same way that we did in the 1970s now in the post-Brexit environment. If we are committed to the Good Friday Agreement and protecting an all-island economy, a different approach is needed on rules of origin. Ultimately, it is the Government that needs to champion that in terms of engagement with the European Commission.