Ms Nicola Byrne:

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked about new routes. Obviously to bypass the UK south west, south east it would be the natural geography because obviously north is north unless the border becomes somewhere else. It is hard to call at this stage because it is so complex. The Larne to Stranraer route would be an ideal route if we were crossing land as it is, but unfortunately the route from Rosslare to Cherbourg or somewhere like that is looking far more realistic. It comes back to the point I made that we will need to pick ports and invest them. We need to get new designations for our ports. We need to either get one additional port or substitute out one and replace it with another. It is complex. I was teasing the French Minister and asking him if he was planning on putting his country's battleships on our coast because the English would not be defending us anymore; he did not say "No". There are new opportunities. We do not know how this will pan out. We do not know how the borders of Europe will be protected. If Britain is out, who protects the northern sea? I am volunteering Foynes because it has air cover for bringing them out. It is irrelevant because we just do not know the answer.