Matt Shanahan: NI's Dual Market Access Is a Major Advantage

Minister, the Northern Ireland economy has been the best performing in the wider UK last year because of the benefit of the market up there having access to both the EU and the UK customers. I am just wondering what specific steps you and the Department are taking to promote and communicate this message to the wider Northern community? Thank you for this question. It is a topic that I think should get a lot more focus than it does in many ways because many focus on problems in terms of the implementation of the protocol and there are some. But of course there is also a huge benefit as well for Northern Ireland getting uninterrupted access if you like both into the rest of the UK internal market but also into the huge EU single market. And that is an extraordinary economic advantage for Northern Ireland that I think we are starting to see the benefits of. Now, the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland was agreed by the EU and this British Government. The result of over four years of difficult negotiation with compromises on all sides. It is designed to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement, including avoiding a hard land border, to protect vital all-island supply chains and to ensure the integrity of the single market and Ireland's place in it. The protocol offers real benefits to Northern Ireland. The goods produced in Northern Ireland have access to both the EU single market of over 450 million people, the world's biggest and most powerful trading block, as well as the rest of the UK's internal market of some 65 million people. Nowhere else in the world can make this offer to local and international business. It is an opportunity that can benefit all communities. The first year of the protocol's operation has seen historic high levels of investment interest in Northern Ireland and a series of jobs announcements and investment decisions clearly linked to Northern Ireland's dual market access. However, stability, certainty and predictability are needed to fully realise these opportunities. The Government continues to engage closely with the business community, political leaders and other stakeholders in Northern Ireland. My Government and I, along with the European Commission Vice President Mars Sefcovic, have consistently highlighted the economic opportunities associated with the protocol as part of this engagement. Recent polling shows a growing recognition across Northern Ireland that the protocol represents genuine economic opportunities. In October 2021, the European Commission presented a comprehensive and generous package of proposals to help minimise disruption caused by Brexit for the people of Northern Ireland, based on direct outreach with stakeholders. The Prime Minister, I am in agreement with you, Minister, and many others that the Northern Ireland present protocol agreement is delivering a massive economic benefit to the North. But I am not sure that the message is getting through in a political sense. Unfortunately, there are, as we know, historical, political and cultural differences existing there, which is the reason for that. I suppose it is also interesting to see that the engagement of Liz Truss and Mara Sefcovic has certainly, I think, helped in the present discussions in terms of the relaxation of some of the agri issues at the border, which have significantly helped Northern Ireland farmers, and this is in stark contrast to what is happening to farming and agriculture in the UK. I think there is a lot to be said for where things are at, but I do believe the Department has a preeminent position in terms of driving the message. It is certainly the case that for some in Northern Ireland politics, they do not wish it to be heard, but I think we need to do a better job in trying to get that across. I think it is important to put the real examples of what is happening on the record here in the Dáil. Let me give you a number of examples. Last year, Invest Northern Ireland reported that it was dealing with 50 firms interested in setting up in Northern Ireland. Manufacturing Northern Ireland has noted a similar uptick in investment interest. For example, the ALMAC Group, the global pharmaceutical organisation headquartered in Craigavon, announced the creation of 1,000 new jobs in Northern Ireland. ALMAC has consistently highlighted its unique, unfettered and flexible access to the UK, Europe and beyond, under the protocol referring to this as the ALMAC Advantage. Arda Metal Packaging announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art 200 million Euro beverage can plant in Belfast to service the growing needs of customers in Ireland, the UK and Europe. Delhi Lights, a Warren Point-based food producer, has reportedly won a number of accounts previously serviced by GB competitors and in October announced 45 new jobs in its Middletown industrial estate factory as part of a £4.3 million investment. So there are real things happening linked to the protocol because of the opportunities that it provides. Minister, I used to do some work with the Enterprise Board and Interreg was a significant programme in terms of trying to develop cross-border trade. I think it is interesting that if you look at the Northern economy, there is a significant number of people up there who are employed by the state. And productivity would not reflect the numbers that we have down here, although it is improving. So I think the case is that there is great opportunity and great potential in the Northern Irish economy under the present trade agreement. I suppose that suggests the question as to where Northern Irish politics is going and where possibly supporting Brexiters are going. And the issues that Mr Johnson are having now I would contend are probably adding further fears to the possible triggering of the future of Article 16. So I know we are doing everything possible. I think we need to keep selling the economic message and the shared island message. It is very, very important for people in the North that they know that they have a significant future tied to the Republic of this country. Minister to conclude. Yes, and some of the comments by the Prime Minister yesterday I think were unhelpful in that regard. But can I say that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Mara Sefkovic I think are building a good relationship as the two key negotiators here on behalf of the UK and the EU in terms of trying to settle some of the outstanding issues on how we implement with the maximum flexibility possible the protocol into the future. And certainly we will be working with both sides and I speak to Mara Sefkovic on a weekly basis to try and find a way forward on that that can bring the certainty and the stability that is needed in Northern Ireland. So that this extraordinary advantage that the protocol does actually provide can be fully utilised instead of the protocol remaining a polarising issue in politics in Northern Ireland in the lead up to elections. So we all have an obligation to try to move these issues forward. I think the EU are playing their part in that in terms of offering real flexibility and I hope that the UK will be able to respond to that positively in the weeks ahead. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm moving on to the final point. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.