Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I thank all our guests for their insight and analysis. It is good to have a fisheries expert, in Dr. Whitford, as part of the team. It was always going to be a complex issue and it will be difficult in the hours to come. We are very grateful. If there is anything we can do on this side to advocate for the evolution of our colleagues' committee into a different form, with their continued involvement, we will do our bit. We have found some common ground, including on the Beatles. We know how serious this matter is and that it is about the bread-and-butter conversations that are happening in coffee shops, whether in Newcastle, County Down, Letterkenny, Cork or Kerry. We live on an island here. We need the flow of goods. There are fears around the timelines for distribution of goods, which is something that people are very conscious of, but with a willingness and desire to come to an understanding, the next day or two are really important.

Our guests' committee has been advocating strongly for a future relationship. We have the cornerstone - Mr. Kinnock advocated for the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which has institutional ties. It seems to have been around for a long time. It evolved from the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body but has only existed since 1990. There have been a number of significant interventions on an east-west basis, including Queen Elizabeth's visit in 2011 and President Higgins's first state visit in 2014. Major foundations have been laid down in the relationship. No matter what happens, the main thing we must do is keep that relationship strong. Our committee would like to continue working on a parliament-to-parliament basis, albeit not necessarily on just a Dublin-London basis. We can do it on a regional basis as well and keep looking at new ways of working together.

Gabhaim buíochas leis na finnéithe as ucht a theacht go dtí Teach Laighin inniu. I thank the witnesses for coming to Leinster House, albeit in virtual form. We will see one another again in 2021.

Before we conclude, I propose that we go into private session to continue our engagement.