Dr. Martina Lawless:

As regards whether trade would have grown at the same rate in the absence of the protocol, it is clear it would not. We have seen from the fall in trade between Ireland and Great Britain that the new obstacles put in place, such as the new costs of data, customs procedures and so on, have been an impediment to trade. Those are a result of Brexit. Essentially, the protocol protects businesses in Northern Ireland from the negative impact of Brexit. That is very much an increase in trade that would not have occurred if the protocol were not in place; in fact, it would have been quite the opposite. Northern Ireland trade would have fallen significantly if the protocol was not in place to maintain the access of Northern Ireland to both the EU and UK markets.

As regards the potential for Northern Ireland to grow further, I have not done any specific work on that. It is an issue at which we hope to look. I do not wish to speculate by giving precise numbers but there is a very strong case that Northern Ireland is in a good position to benefit from this unique situation of having easy access to two large markets. If the uncertainty relating to the operation and permanency of the protocol can be put to one side, the economic benefits of Northern Ireland having access to both these markets would be significant. We are clear in terms of making it an attractive place to invest-----