Ms Frances Fitzgerald:

Senator Currie raised the impact of not having the Assembly in the North. That is a huge issue and concern for all of us. From a European perspective, and I am sure my colleagues will agree with me, we do see great ongoing support for Ireland for a proper outcome on the negotiations on the protocol. We have all been involved in various ways. Commissioner Šefovi is willing to be flexible. There is opportunity to resolve it if the political will is there. It is a question of having the political will, I believe. It is there from the EU side and it needs to be developed further from the UK perspective, I would say.

I recognise the points Senator Flynn makes on vulnerability and vulnerable countries, as well as vulnerable communities and individuals. That is a very much a focus from the EU perspective. Ultimately, it is about reaching out and understanding the particular difficulties that vulnerable communities are facing, whether it is from climate change or purely economics. The funding being made available should be made available to those communities in all our member states. We certainly have a lot of reports looking at various issues relating to poverty and tackling it, creating more employment in the EU and trying to keep innovation in the EU, which is a very big challenge now.

That brings me to Senator Ward's point on supply chains. We have huge dependence on China. We must work very hard to keep innovation in Europe and developing it in Europe. That applies to Ireland too. Too many of our innovative products are being exported very quickly and developed either in China or the west coast. The relationship with China is much more critical than it was previously. Obviously we try to co-operate where we can but increasingly, we also confront quite a lot, particularly on human rights issues and in relation to the Uyghurs. It is a changing relationship. It is one to watch in the coming years to see what exactly the dynamics will be as the EU tries to play a greater role in world politics. We are getting a more independent stance from America. While developing the relationship is very positive, equally the relationship with China is at a very difficult phase at present.

Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the leadership we have seen on Covid and how we need to see it in other areas. She mentioned small business. Last week, in her state of the Union address, Ursula von der Leyen spoke about the late payments directive and how we need to change that. In the case of a quarter of all businesses that go into bankruptcy, it is because of late payments. There is an absolute need to update the legislation we have on that. She focused particularly on small business. I have said myself that in the coming period, small and medium-sized businesses will be very vulnerable with the increase in energy costs. There was a good model there with Covid. It is a different situation now but we have seen how we can reach out to individuals and businesses when we need to get them over a crisis. That will be needed in the next few weeks and months.

Senator Dolan asked some detailed questions. The Department of Finance might be the best place to get the detailed information on that. I will certainly come back to her on it. The funds are active but I do not have the information on how much has been drawn down at present. There is a great opportunity there in respect both of the fund for local authorities and the just transition fund for the midlands. I think €89.4 million available which is a substantial amount for getting through the just transition period. The two funds are worth keeping an eye on and following up on.

Those were the main questions asked. I thank everyone for their questions. We all have a lot of work to do. What I notice more than anything is an impatience to get on with implementation. The macro framework is there now and the macro funding is available. The challenge will be in the implementation and making sure that we get all the players together at national and European level to deliver what are very worthy and necessary goals.