Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have not had long conversations with my counterpart in Northern Ireland on this. This is a political decision for the Executive. I will not overreach as I sometimes get criticised for doing that by politicians in Northern Ireland. This is a matter for the Executive. It is its issue. We have signalled for some time that we want to do this, we think it is a good public health measure and we would like to do it together but it is a matter for the Executive to respond as to why it either does or does not want to do it on the same timeline as us. Efforts to do this on an all-island basis have effectively delayed this measure for longer than it would otherwise have been delayed. The view of the Department of Health is that while it may potentially cause some trade disruption potentially and cross-Border shopping, which would be frustrating, we still think that, on the whole, this is a public health measure we need to move ahead with. I think it will happen. It is a fair question and a matter I will raise with some of the political leaders in Northern Ireland whom I will meet next week.