Mr. Colm Markey:

I thank Senator McGreehan. As she says, it is good to have the County Louth connections.

On the Northern Ireland situation, it is very important that we look at where the current scenario allows for engagement between states at European level, but equally between Ireland and the UK. As the Senator has rightly pointed out, Northern Ireland is perhaps not getting a fair and full voice in that situation. There are structures, such as the joint committee and other structures within the protocol and the Good Friday Agreement, that can ultimately give Northern Ireland a greater voice. I do not think these structures are being invested in enough. They have not received the recognition they deserve. People on the ground there are not engaging to the degree or as proactively as they might.

The other side of all of this is that there is an enormous opportunity for Northern Ireland here. The unique status that Northern Ireland now has economically, by being part of the EU with access to the EU through the free trade agreement and access to the UK in the same way, is being fundamentally lost. There needs to be a project group on that area alone which could focus on a type of regeneration of Northern Ireland and that is an opportunity. One can talk about ambassadors or suchlike, but over two thirds of all businesses have identified this opportunity yet politics is lagging behind that opportunity. It is politics that is out of sync here. We need to find a way to encourage people to ensure they represent their grassroots and the interests that people have in progressing this situation.

In the few seconds I have left, on the vaccines, I am strongly convinced with regard to the whole area of preventative medicines. At European level we cannot do anything about accident and emergency units or emergency responses in the medical area but we can do a great deal in the area of preventative medicines and vaccines are a very significant part of that. That is something we need to look at as we go forward.