Debate contribution: Dual Market Access

Debate contribution by Mrs Deborah Erskine on 18 June 2024.

MLA

Mrs Deborah Erskine

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

18 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Dual Market Access

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4496912

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The DUP has been clear that the arrangements to which Northern Ireland is currently subject impact on and undermine the integrity of the UK's internal market. However, the DUP was able to make gains. Building on the progress to date, the DUP will continue to fight to fully restore Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom, including removing the application of EU law in our country and the internal Irish Sea border that it creates. The continued barriers to trade with GB demonstrate that dual market access to both the UK and EU markets, in the broadest sense depicted by those who tabled the motion, does not exist in the sense outlined. We must not pretend otherwise. Purchases made by Northern Irish businesses from GB were worth more than twice as much as those from the whole EU, including the Irish Republic, in 2022. Moreover, GB remains the largest and most valuable market for Northern Ireland's economy, including external sales. Those trends must be reflected through trade, customs and regulatory arrangements that provide unfettered access for firms and consumers. The SDLP, Sinn Féin and Alliance fail to realise that the internal barriers to trade between GB and NI have a direct and tangible impact on our competitiveness when firms market their goods outside Northern Ireland, including in the EU. The higher transport and logistical costs from GB for raw materials will lead to higher production costs and, in turn, higher product prices, which collectively makes breaking into new markets more challenging. Today's motion also talks about the potential benefits of so-called dual market access for attracting inward investment to Northern Ireland. It fails to consider that, if a global manufacturer is considering investing in Northern Ireland's highly skilled workforce, barriers to sourcing key materials from one of the world's largest economies — GB — will have a chilling effect on whether a business chooses to invest. A competitive advantage at the point of sale is of little benefit if there is a competitive disadvantage elsewhere in the supply chain. We accept the reference to easing the flow of trade between GB and NI in the motion, but it is at best superficial. There is no reference to a role for Intertrade UK, which will be key to promoting trade between our four nations. Creating working groups that focus solely on North/South trade, rather than investment opportunities that encompass the whole UK, limits what can be achieved for our businesses and communities. The motion envisages a role for the North/South Ministerial Council that frankly does not exist. Article 14(b) of the protocol states that the Specialised Committee will:

"examine proposals concerning the implementation and application of this Protocol from the North-South Ministerial Council and North-South Implementation bodies set up under the 1998 Agreement".

It is unclear how the development of a new economic strategy for Northern Ireland, as recommended by the motion, falls into the remit of "implementation". Furthermore, why should the Republic's foreign direct investment association have any role in the development of Northern Ireland's trade and investment strategies? Promoting Northern Ireland's role in a truly global economy should be a matter for the Executive, Invest NI and the Department for Business and Trade. We are firmly of the view that it does not require large swathes of EU law to apply in Northern Ireland to secure advantageous and mutually beneficial trading arrangements. Mutual recognition would see the 5% of businesses in Northern Ireland that trade with the EU monitored by UK authorities to ensure that they have complied with EU standards and regulations and paid any tariffs due. The EU would take the same responsibility for Irish businesses exporting into Northern Ireland.

That approach was recklessly dismissed by the EU and Dublin.

We will continue to make the case that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement review next year presents an opportunity to demonstrate that Northern Ireland should not be bound by EU law, which is not needed when mutual enforcement and recognition would and could work between the UK and EU. That will ensure that any approach to affording businesses and consumers access to both the UK and EU markets respects the territorial integrity of the UK, the value of existing trade flows and the constitutional —

— position of Northern Ireland. Therefore, we will vote against the motion.

720 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:37 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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