Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that the Northern Ireland protocol is being used for political leverage, specifically by the northern unionists, to seek concessions. It is also being used to stymie the resumption of the Northern Ireland Executive, which is holding up effective governance in the North of Ireland. This is especially noted with regard to the IMF announcement on the UK economy today. The Minister has answered part of my second question, which is whether the business community is being consulted widely about its ideas about what the softening of the protocol might mean and about the movement of goods.

On capital, is there any chance of extra infrastructural moneys coming from either the UK Government or possibly from Europe that could be made available to the Northern Ireland economy to act as an incentive to restore the power-sharing Executive?

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