Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not as arrogant as the Deputy. I will always listen to other Deputies' perspectives and respond to them. I do not dismiss them like the Deputy does and I am not as cynical as him that he does not even bother worrying about or listening to the reply any more. He should not be putting the questions if that is his attitude.

The Deputy knows I have spoken to the First Minister and the deputy First Minister and he knows what the attitude of the members of the Executive is on alignment with the Republic. Unfortunately, one of the barriers to North-South alignment has been that there is a political dimension to it. That dimension relates to both travel and alignment. We are now in the position of being in alignment on the island in the context of the majority of measures we are taking. We are at level 5 and Northern Ireland is at its highest level of lockdown as well. We extended the lockdown until 5 March and not just until the end of February in order to maintain that alignment. There is not full alignment on travel, however. Those are the realities. The Deputy knows that in his heart but it suits him to blame the Dublin Government.

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