Mr. Pat Hynes:

The first thing to say is that we do not consider ourselves experts.

We are the facilitators of the discussions. I thank the Deputy for his kind remarks. He has been a good friend to our organisation over many years and a good participant in our work.

I with the Deputy about the degree of rupture created by Brexit, not least around the level of co-operation that emanated from officials and politicians who participated at an EU level. I do not think the level of British-Irish interaction at a European level, around issues that were common to both of the islands, has been realised.

As the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has said - he may even have expressed his view at this committee - strand 3 of the agreement provides for co-operation across the Irish Sea. I think the Government should give consideration to enhancing the role of strand 3 and creating opportunities, whether it is on a quarterly basis or more frequently, to take certain sectors that are common in terms of interests between us and create a structure where officials and politicians can meet more frequently at strand 3 level. In that way, maybe once a year, the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister could participate in one of three or whatever number of sessions, thereby allowing us to get back to the previous level of co-operation. Many of the difficulties in the last number of years, and regarding the prospective legacy, have been due to an absence of connection. As the Deputy quite rightly mentioned, the humanising impact and the improvement in those relationships that we have seen over the decades was definitely cemented as a consequence of us both being members of the European Council. We must be imaginative, take what is in place at strand 3 to see if we can enhance and build that in terms of some of the key areas that are of common interest to us both, and see what we might be able to do.