Dr. Anthony Soares:

I will comment first and then I will hand over to my colleagues.

I thank Dr. Farry for his questions. The North-South mapping exercise is an issue. At the time, following its undertaking, one of the things that we noted was the following about the technical notes that were produced by both the UK Government and the European Commission, which essentially were almost the same technical note that accompanied the eventual publication of the mapping exercise on North-South co-operation. Both technical notes pointed out that the exercise may not have captured informal, local community level co-operation on a North-South basis. This is one of the reasons that the ad hocgroup is also really important because most of the co-operation that we undertake takes place at an informal, local community level. We are very keen, as we monitor the conditions for North-South co-operation and whether they have been maintained, that we capture all of that co-operation and not necessarily just the 142 areas of North-South co-operation that were included in the mapping exercise, which essentially looked at the regulatory underpinnings and the extent to which EU regulations supported those areas of co-operation.

For many of us who are involved in the North-South and east-west co-operation it is not the technicalities and regulations that keep us alive but the vigour, heart and passion that keeps us doing what we do. However, it is important that we do not dismiss that and include, as we look at the conditions for North-South co-operation, that we pay close attention to that.

In terms of the question on whether we should have an audit and a refreshing, that is one of the purposes of the ad hocgroup. We can provide that evidence to those who are responsible for the monitoring, and Article 11 of the protocol, and give direct evidence in terms of how our co-operation is progressing, following the implementation of the protocol as it proceeds.

On the issue of EEA nationals employed or engaged in cross-border work or activities, we knew this would arise when the UK decided to withdraw from the European Union. We talked about it and it has come about. I refer to the whole issue of uncertainty. If it happens that someone who is not a UK citizen or an Irish citizen is involved in cross-border work, there is uncertainty as to whether that employment is secure. From the employers' perspective – we are particularly worried about this because of the various issues employers are dealing with - cross-border employers may become more reluctant to employ cross-border workers. There are various issues around that, not only in terms of citizenship but also in terms of taxation issues. In particular, as we move towards more remote working, especially for those resident in the Republic of Ireland and employed by an Northern Ireland employer, what are the implications in terms of their tax liability if they are engaged in remote working? We must be aware of that and work to ensure it does not become an obstacle to employers employing cross-border workers in the future.

Regarding the issues of electronic travel authorisation and the changes to some of the documentary requirements for intra-CTA travel for citizens who do not have Irish or UK nationality, which will come into effect on 1 October, as members are probably aware, we were fortunate in that the policy team in the Home Office responsible for the common travel area engaged with us to talk us through some of those changes and their implications. The Home Office CTA team was very clear there will be no changes to travel across the land Border here and that some of the policies were already in existence. However, we pointed out to the team that even if we are talking about the continuation of existing policies, it has to understand that the context has completely changed. Brexit has completely changed the position and created all sorts of uncertainties. Any alterations to intra-CTA travel must be handled very carefully. These issues are adding an extra dimension of uncertainty, particularly with regard to the potential implications for those who are not UK or Irish citizens with respect to their travel between the island of Ireland and Great Britain. We must be very careful in how we handle any of those changes coming into effect on 1 October.