Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am slow to get into too much of that detail, but I note that if we have full alignment then we have to have a level playing-field and agreement on the rules of the Single Market. We obviously cannot have farmers in Northern Ireland producing food according to a totally different set of rules and regulations to farmers south of the Border and expect there to be no requirement for Border checks. Regulatory alignment means that we operate by the same rulebook on both sides of the Border. That goes beyond rules of origin and labelling rules. It applies across the board. That is part of the UK's proposal, but nothing is agreed yet. We simply have a proposal that is the focus of discussion and hopefully will soon be under serious negotiation. As I said earlier, it is not the basis of what an agreement will be if it happens, but it certainly needs to be the basis of a discussion.

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