Mr. Conor Mulvihill:

To follow on from Mr. Lavelle's point, the one group that we have not mentioned in Europe is the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, DG SANTE, which has jurisdiction over food standards. It needs to be brought into the conversation. It is not an entirely contiguous example, but there have been previous cases, such as in respect of the island of Cyprus, which is another divided island, where the EU has introduced flexibilities to make things work. The island of Ireland is a single epidemiological unit that is underpinned by the protocol. Therefore, we want these things, both from an origin and food safety point of view, to be delivered 100%. It should be noted the Irish food economy is based on food safety, first and foremost.

To address Senator Currie's question on the consequences of the issues not being resolved, when we are trying to sell product against, for example, New Zealand or US producers in south-east Asia, who do not know where Ireland is, they are already using it against us. There are two food safety issues in Ireland. That is already being used against us as we speak, in terms of those consequences.

In response to Senator Ó Donnghaile's and Senator Byrne's questions regarding the front-of-pack labelling, origin from a trade perspective and front-of-pack labelling, that says, for example, "Irish whiskey" or "Irish premium liqueur", should not be confused. Both of them are covered by EU legislation on geographical indicators which are normal things. For example, Irish creamery butter is something that is known far and wide. As we know, it is a premium product all around the world. Therefore, we want it to be clear that butter from anywhere on the island can be advertised on the packet as Irish creamery butter. We have run into some significant headwinds in recent months regarding that issue and when, for example, there is Northern Irish input into such products. To be fair, and to commend the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Health, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine in particular, it has been very much addressed and progress has been made. However, the issue should be highlighted.

Finally, and Dr. Johnston might refer to it in his response, we are all talking about the Good Friday Agreement. That agreement allows both product and people in Northern Ireland to be British, Irish or both. In Limerick, there is a phrase, which states, "You want to be jam and jam on it." It could relate to how producers want to label a product. If producers in Northern Ireland want their product to be British to give them a competitive advantage in the GB market, best to luck to them. The flexibility, as given under the Good Friday Agreement, needs to be provided in respect of front-of-pack labelling. I will hand over to Dr. Johnston.