Following Liz Truss's threat to Maroš Šefčovič of British Government unilateral action to undermine the Irish protocol, what level of Irish Government engagement has there been with the British Government?

Has the Tánaiste spoken to Boris Johnson? Obviously, we cannot have a return of the spectre of a hard border in Ireland. The British may be looking for a game of chicken with the European Union. Hopefully, they are only grandstanding to keep certain sections of the British Conservative Party happy. This does not help, however, given the cul-de-sac politics being followed by the DUP following the historic Northern election.

I thank the Deputy. I can understand the concern with regard to this issue. Secretary of State Truss and Vice President Šefčovič had a telephone call this morning. We will get a detailed read-out from that telephone call later today. Clearly, what the British Government has now said is that it intends to move ahead with domestic legislation of its own if it does not see the compromises it is demanding in the context of the protocol. That is deeply unhelpful and has gone down very badly across the European Union. It has ratcheted up tension between the UK and the EU at a time when we do not need it in context of the bigger issues we are trying to deal with together, in partnership, in respect of Ukraine.

Our message is simple. We want partnership, dialogue and negotiation. We believe there is a landing zone that can deal with legitimate issues that have been raised regarding the implementation of the protocol by the unionist community and business community in Northern Ireland, representatives of both I met yesterday in Belfast. We will continue to maintain that position in dialogue with the British Government.