Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Commissioner for her detailed opening remarks on Brexit. It was interesting to hear her refer to the backstop. It seems like a lifetime ago that we were in that space. It is almost five years since the referendum and we have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go.

I should have mentioned at the outset that I wish to congratulate Senator Dooley, who was confirmed at the weekend as interim co-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, ALDE, Party following the unfortunate recent death of the party's president, Mr. Hans van Baalen. We send our condolences to his family and congratulate Senator Dooley on stepping up to that position.

To ensure every member gets a chance to contribute, I propose to give each member five minutes. In that five minutes the member will ask his or her question or questions but must also allow time for the Commissioner to respond within the five minutes. If there is time we will have a second round, but everybody will have an opportunity to contribute in the first round.

On that note, I will put a question to the Commissioner. She said the EU would react firmly if the UK were to continue down its path, if I can paraphrase it, of taking decisions unilaterally. We saw recent reports from the excellent RTÉ journalist, Mr. Tony Connelly, in which he said that the EU will take a measured approach or response to any further unilateral moves by the UK to delay implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. If the UK again extends the time or delays implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol, what will that measured response or firm reaction from the EU look like?

What can Ireland expect? We were quite concerned at reports in the past week that there may be potential, as a last resort, to impose checks on goods coming from the Republic of Ireland to mainland Europe should the UK fail to implement the Northern Ireland protocol fully. I would welcome the Commissioner's comments and remarks on that.