Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Lord Jay. I will start the ball rolling with a quick question, which he can pass on to one of his colleagues. He emphasised the importance of strengthening interparliamentary dialogue between the Oireachtas and Westminster. In appreciating the formal mechanisms that are open to us, we all know what is happening with the North-South Ministerial Council, NSMC, and that formal mechanism has not been available to us over the last couple of months. Is there an opportunity to do more work on an informal basis, in terms of engagement, whether that is on an east-west or a North-South basis? Lord Jay may wish to pass that question on to one of his members. I am conscious of the role that Lord Hain played when he was Co-Chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Body, as it was then. While that was a formal mechanism, I think the best work was carried out during the informal sessions, if Lord Jay understands what I mean.