Mr. Tim Cullinan:

We have a very clear view. The Deputy is correct in that, back in 2016, we had the first conference on Brexit, specifically on the all-Ireland dimension. That is what the Government signed up to with the protocol. We all hope the regulations in this regard will be adhered to. We are all hearing about the Internal Market Bill. I understand there is some positive news about it this evening. It is critical that the trade continue north and south, but also east and west. Specifically on the Deputy's question on the North–South aspect, as we know, there is an increase of 90% in the volume of live cattle being transported to Northern Ireland from the South this year. This is critical to support the trade in southern Ireland. In the region of 80,000 to 90,000 cattle will have been transported to the North for slaughter this year. Half a million lambs are sent to the South from Northern Ireland every year.

Approximately 8,000 to 9,000 live pigs are transported to the North for slaughter each week, and 40% of the milk that is produced in Northern Ireland is processed in the Republic of Ireland, mainly in Lakeland Dairies. The trade that is there is absolutely essential. We want to ensure that it continues and that is our policy. We want to be able to trade with Northern Ireland and we are very keen to see more movement of beef - and live animals in particular - to the North for processing there. Perhaps that will help with the deficit in the British market. If one looks at it, the Republic of Ireland has supplied beef to the UK market for as long as we can remember. It is important that this can continue and hopefully the Northern Ireland protocol will facilitate that. We put €5.5 billion worth of food into the British market last year, which includes 40% of our beef, 30% of our dairy and 100% of the mushrooms produced in this country. If something goes wrong and if we end up with tariffs, the consequences will be great. The Chairman mentioned it already, and our figures are similar. Our figures state that a no-deal Brexit will cost €1.5 billion per year, which is a massive cost. Compensation will need to be provided should that occur. Two countries lobbied for a €5 billion emergency fund during the negotiations in Brussels on the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, earlier in the year, namely, Ireland and Belgium. I know the French indicated last weekend that they wanted some of this money to be used to compensate for the loss in fisheries. However, I made it very clear yesterday in the European Parliament that Ireland is must get proper compensation if it is going to end up in a no-deal situation with tariffs.

On the third country issue, that is a risk. We want to ensure that standards are upheld and there is a level playing field. That is critical. The last thing we want to see is the UK doing a deal with a third country. If cheap beef and perhaps chlorinated chicken are being imported, that will be very concerning for our market.

On the issue of the land bridge, it is critical that the land bridge is maintained and that we need to get the best access possible to Europe. It was agreed earlier in the year that there would be green lanes for Irish trucks going from Britain onto Europe. That needs to be done and those lanes must be freed up. We need to see measures taken around that and to be honest, I am very concerned about it. There must be more direct access. The announcement last week of an extra ferry route between Rosslare and France is a welcome development. We need to see more traffic using such routes, because the checks that will be made on goods coming in and going out will slow the process down. We have been lobbying for these measures for the past number of years, and all of the measures that are in our Brexit emergency plan are included in that.