Mr. Ken Nelson:

Ms Curran will come in with more of the details. Comments have been made about stockpiling and until we factor that out, and the impact of Covid-19, it is difficult to see what is required from the point of view of our supports. The TCA has addressed some of the challenges of the implementation of the protocol but there is likely to be a need for special rules of origin for movement of goods or de minimisrules for cross-Border supply chains. The final definition of Northern Ireland goods will be important and future changes of that definition have the potential to have a significant impact on cross-Border trade. Some of those issues still need to be defined and the interpretation of the text of the agreement is still being developed in important areas such as state aid. That may have an impact on some aspects of cross-Border trade supports in the future.

We will pick up, through our business monitoring, research and surveys, the impact that is coming through. January was certainly stark. We tend to get quarterly results but we are starting to see some stuff coming through already and perhaps Ms Curran will address that.