Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Time is very important and I accept we have that window. I welcome the clarity and the reiteration this is not for renegotiation. That is the difficulty. It is to be hoped Liz Truss is there as a dealmaker and other factors will not impact on that.

I accept that sometimes with these questions we are asking the Minister to look into a crystal ball, which I assume he does not have. I also reiterate some of what Deputy O'Callaghan said about both the Minister and Maroš Šefčovič having said that, in dealing with stakeholders, business owners, farmers and other such people in the North, they see and recognise the benefits of the Irish protocol at this time but that political unionism is in a different place. We all know politics in Britain is in an utterly dysfunctional place at this time. We just need to hold the line. We need to get a deal. It is better it happens sooner but we need to ensure there is a deal and that it is the Irish protocol.

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