Mr. Barry Andrews:

To start with Senator Currie, the Brexit situation is delicate at the moment as regards the withdrawal agreement. There was a very interesting comment today by Liz Truss, the Prime Minister of the UK, acknowledging there will not be a US-UK trade agreement in the short term. This changes things significantly because that was the excuse given as to why the UK wanted to diverge on agriculture and veterinary standards, because it wanted a trade deal with the US. Clearly, that is off the table. It is to be hoped the US will now play a slightly more active role in trying to resolve the dispute between the EU and the UK. I am slightly disappointed by the lack of US input into the resolution of these disagreements. The US has traditionally played an honest broker role in Northern Ireland and I am disappointed with the role it has played. The visit by the delegation of representatives from the US Congress lead by Richard Neal was a fiasco. It was completely chaotic and added nothing whatsoever. Taking the US-UK trade deal off the table is a very positive thing and it will force the US to take a much more proactive role.

Senator Flynn prefaced her remarks by talking about the sustainable development goals, SDGs, and asking whether we think about the Roma community and the Travelling community. The SDGs are built on the principle that we leave nobody behind and reach the furthest behind first. Like Mr. Cuffe, I would love to go back to Labre Park. I have been there before but it is a great idea to invite the Dublin MEPs. I note Ireland will carry out a voluntary national review on the SDGs in 2023. The country should summon together civil society, including the communities Senator Flynn represents, to make their contribution to the development and preparation of that voluntary review.

Senator Fitzpatrick talked about what was done by the European Union during the pandemic and it was very well said. However, whether it is measures such as the digital Covid certificate, the Next Generation EU fund borrowing on a mutual debt raised by the European Union, or the procurement of vaccines that protected member states, we have not seen that on the energy crisis yet. We have not seen that broad-scale, broad brush European approach to the energy crisis yet. There is a meeting of energy ministers on 30 September and we will see if the European Union can find its voice on this. I am thinking also in terms of joint procurement of energy, which is something that would really benefit smaller member states.

Senator Ward brought up the question of China and I will convey his remarks to Clare Daly, MEP.