Lord Caine:

I find myself agreeing with a great deal of what has been said. Deputy Haughey is absolutely right to raise the issue of economic investment and economic opportunities. Members may correct me if I am wrong, but at the start of the year, Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was talking about Northern Ireland benefiting from having the best of both worlds in respect of the protocol. Obviously, that was before some of the issues to which Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick referred, such as the so-called sausage wars and so on, became apparent. I hope we can get to a situation where we iron out some of the difficulties with the protocol. It is not just a Northern Ireland issue. I read yesterday about the difficulty that smaller food manufacturers are having in supplying Northern Ireland markets, which is putting pressure on their businesses in Great Britain because of the difficulties involved. I very much hope that if we could iron out the difficulties, applying pragmatism, proportionality, common sense and all of that, we could start trumpeting some of the opportunities Northern Ireland has. Let us be honest, we all know that economic prosperity and stability is one of the surest ways of underpinning peace in Northern Ireland. I note that a week or so ago, the Prime Minister appointed Mr. Trevor Ringland, who is well known to many taking part in this meeting, as a special envoy to the United States, with a specific inward investment remit. I very much endorse the remarks of Deputy Haughey in respect of the opportunities that could be available for Northern Ireland if we can iron out some of these difficulties.

As regards the comments of Deputy Howlin in respect of where the consensus lies in Westminster, Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick is correct in stating there are very different views. If I were to hazard a guess, most members of my party would be assuaged if the difficulties about which we are hearing could be dealt with, but there is probably a smaller number who fundamentally object to the protocol for all sorts of political and constitutional reasons. What we should be seized of is very much the extent to which this issue now is contributing to political instability in Northern Ireland and, therefore, it is incumbent on everybody to do whatever they can to sort it out, frankly, before the situation gets any worse.