Debate contribution: Dual Market Access

Debate contribution by Mr Conor Murphy on 18 June 2024.

MLA

Mr Conor Murphy

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

18 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Dual Market Access

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4496966

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Members who tabled the motion, and I welcome the opportunity to speak to it. I assure the proposer of the motion that the detail that he has outlined will be responded to with detail and that it is not merely rhetoric that I am deploying on this issue. A number of Members contributed to the debate, and I thank them for their contributions. The certainty in trading arrangements delivered by the Windsor framework provides us with a unique set of trading arrangements and offers unique opportunities for the North, both in inward investment and trade growth. It positions our region as a unique gateway for the sale of goods to two of the world's largest markets: Britain and the EU. The dual market access means that we are the only location where business can export goods to both British and EU markets free from customs declarations, rules of origin certificates and non-tariff barriers. Businesses based here can use EU inputs in their products without having to import them, enhancing the benefits for companies serving the British market. That is a unique proposition for businesses here, as well as those seeking a pivotal location from which to service British and EU markets, recalibrate supply chains or design, develop and sell products across key industries. Those industries include life and health sciences, aerospace, electronics and machinery, chemicals, consumer goods and agri-food goods. The benefits afforded by dual market access further enhance our already strong position as a prime location to establish or grow a business based primarily on the skills of our people. The trade and investment opportunities available through our dual market access position of supporting more businesses to export and attracting inward investment will be a key catalyst in achieving our economic plan of a highly productive, zero-carbon, regionally balanced economy with good jobs. Indeed, exporting is a key driver of productivity growth, and, whilst the North performs favourably through a number of our businesses that sell outside the local market, there is significant potential to increase the value of our external sales. Our unique position of having access to both the EU single market and the British market provides us with the conditions to grow our external sales at scale. We can use that access and the appeal that it provides to foreign firms to invest and do business here to our advantage in pursuit of attracting high-quality, highly productive inward investment, which would benefit all parts of the North. My Department and its partner agencies are working closely together to understand how best to maximise the opportunities that dual market access provides and how best to support businesses to take advantage of them. My Department has undertaken analysis and published information that uses regulatory indices that were developed by the UK Trade Policy Observatory to help businesses to better understand the post-EU exit regulatory environment within individual sectors. That work will assist businesses to better understand the types of products and sectors where dual market access opportunities could be exploited. We have also worked with Queen's University to publish information that helps businesses to understand the complexity of the regulatory landscape in the North. To build on that work, my Department and Invest NI organised the first co-design workshop with a range of local business representatives. Output of the co-design session with businesses is a forward plan activity in addition to current Invest NI activities, including the establishment of a dedicated team in Invest NI to maximise dual market access opportunities, which will work in collaboration with colleagues in the Department for the Economy, InterTradeIreland and relevant partners in Britain; a programme of engagement with businesses across the North to support them to maximise opportunities and navigate current trading arrangements; and a schedule of quarterly engagement with business representative organisations to continue the process of co-design. My Department has brought together key providers on export support and advice through the export forum. That will help to ensure that providers are joined up and working seamlessly together, delivering effective advice and services to our businesses and supporting them to expand into external markets. Our unique dual market access adds to the proposition that makes the North an attractive place in which to invest. Work is well under way by Invest NI to ramp up the awareness and promotion of our dual market access proposition in key markets. Invest NI has expanded its on-the-ground resources across key EU markets to identify and maximise opportunities for businesses across the North and to promote the continued ease of sourcing goods from the region for buyers and our unique market access arrangements for investors. Invest NI has been promoting the advantage of dual market access in its discussions with buyers and investors, and it will supplement that with a campaign utilising social media, online and in-person events and awareness raising at trade events. It has developed and is implementing a programme of trade visits and services to promote opportunities for local firms. Further work is to be done with EU member states to highlight the fact that, unlike in Britain, Brexit has not introduced any barriers to importing from the North. However, disrupting long-established arrangements does not come without difficulties. I am aware that some businesses are experiencing issues with, for example, supply chains or delivery of their goods. Indeed, I am aware of a business in my constituency that is experiencing issues with sending orders to the EU and receivers experiencing customer charges. My officials and I will continue to raise those issues on behalf of businesses with British Government and EU officials, with whom we will continue to seek practical and pragmatic resolutions. Article 14 — specifically, article 14(b) — of the protocol provides for the North/South Ministerial Council to raise issues to the Specialised Committee on the implementation of the protocol where there are perceived problems with all-Ireland trade. That could represent a useful mechanism by which to raise issues directly with decision makers on both the British and EU sides. If appropriate, and in consultation with the North/South Ministerial Council, I would be willing to explore the use of that existing mechanism. To support sustainable growth of the economy, we will need to continue to work in collaboration with both the British and Irish Governments on areas of shared opportunities and challenges. Indeed, as Britain and Ireland represent the two largest markets that businesses here sell to, it is clearly in our economic interest to collaborate in order to maximise the opportunities that are associated with dual market access, growing trade on a North/South and east-west basis. Collaboration will also be key to unlocking the tremendous potential that the all-island economy possesses. The Windsor framework arrangements and our access to the EU single market for goods have protected the thriving all-Ireland economy. It is important to build on that for the benefit of all our people. The value of the all-Ireland economy and cross-border trade to growing exports will be important to achieving economic development. Sales to the South of Ireland grew by £1 billion, or 18%, in 2022. The total value of those sales is now £6·4 billion. I want us to make the most of our dual market access opportunities to support more businesses to export. For many, cross-border trade is the first step in developing that capacity.

Indeed, research shows that businesses that trade cross-border are more successful, resilient and profitable. Businesses that operate cross-border continue to benefit from the degree of mobility in the labour market provided by the common travel area, and that has been unaffected by the Windsor framework.

The work of InterTradeIreland has been instrumental in growing the all-Ireland economy. When it first opened its doors in 1999, cross-border trade was valued at €2 billion. The potential of the all-Ireland market has not yet been fully realised, but it is today valued at €12 billion, which is an all-time high. InterTradeIreland, in its role as the only all-Ireland trade development agency, has done a lot of foundation work on bringing agencies together through collaboration. Those agencies include InterTradeIreland, Invest NI, Enterprise Ireland, the Department for the Economy and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Over the past two years, that work has been positively influenced by the funding commitment from the Shared Island Fund for the enterprise scheme, which is valued at €30 million. That investment, over the next three to four years, will allow the economic development agencies on the island to work together to enhance collaboration, develop shared programmes and support businesses, North and South. It represents the first time that all three economic development agencies across the island will work together to deliver such an initiative. That will be a boost to the whole island and particularly the border region by addressing ingrained disadvantage and by increasing economic inclusion and innovation growth. The Government in Dublin recognise, as do I, the importance of growing and sustaining the strong economic ties across the island that will be key to our economic growth and shared future. By cooperating on shared challenges and opportunities, we will be able to better realise the potential of the all-Ireland economy. Cooperation is already occurring in areas such as tourism, with the award of €7·6 million by the Irish Government through the Shared Island Fund for a programme of work on a tourism project that is to run from 2023 to 2025. The project will develop a new all-Ireland tourism brand collaboration and marketing initiative to be administered by tourism agencies on a cross-border basis. We must also pursue other areas, such as those that relate to the net zero agenda, on an all-island basis.

Yes.

We continue to develop the outworkings of all of that. I can assure the Member that organic growth, North to South and South to North, has already been significant, and we will continue to provide whatever support we can in that regard. If that requires legislative action, that is something that we will look at. My sense is that some of the rhetoric in the Command Paper was more about reassuring people than providing any significant impetus. The foolishness of trying to put up barriers to something that has organically been very successful over the past 10 years and that has benefited local businesses from all areas and communities across the North is nonsensical. Pursuing a circular economy will require all-island collaboration and increased resource efficiency to foster innovations through clusters and networks, reduce waste, stimulate secondary materials and strengthen supply chains. I will move on to trade. Following discussions between my Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the first joint international trade mission will take place later this year. The mission will be delivered in partnership by Invest NI, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to grow jointly the economy on the island. Those organisations will support a joint delegation of fintech, edtech and related technology companies from across the island, with a view to increasing export sales. Building on that cooperation, Invest NI will also look to identify potential opportunities for further and more systemic collaboration with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and other organisations. I will also continue to work with the British Government, through the east-west structures that were set up recently and the new Intertrade UK body, although, to date, we have had no clarification from the British Government on Intertrade UK's structure, role or responsibilities. Dual market access provides the North with a unique selling point, and we must leverage that position in order to grow our exports and trade and to attract investment. I turn now to some of the points that were raised in the debate. I hope that I have addressed the detail of what the proposer is seeking through the motion. I can assure him that we continue to work on those issues. The DUP complained about the internal trade barriers and argued against our denial that those barriers existed. In the whole Brexit debate, most of us who were on the other side of thinking that Brexit was a bad idea argued precisely the point that introducing trade barriers would disrupt trade right across, and that is essentially what has happened as a consequence of Brexit. The protocol mitigates the worst impacts of Brexit. The other issue, mutual recognition, was also promoted by Jim Allister in his contribution. Mutual recognition of standards has been consistently rejected by the UK and the EU. It is unlikely that it will become an answer to the Brexit issue in the near future, so the Windsor framework remains the only viable option to ensure free flow of trade North/South and east-west. Steve Aiken questioned the fitness of Invest NI. It has been through a very significant review, and the outworkings of that continue and will have the support of the Department in getting to that space. There have been very significant changes in Invest NI, and there will continue to be significant changes. I am sure that he is reassured, though, given his references to IDA Ireland, that the new chief executive has experience of working in IDA Ireland and will bring that experience to his job in Invest NI. I am coming to the end of my contribution. I thank the proposers and those who contributed to the discussion. As a consequence of being given some relief in relation to the whole Brexit debacle, we need to continue to get on with making the best advantage of that. We have already begun that work. The response of businesses to that has been evident over the last period of time. We will continue to do that work in our own businesses, but also with the possibility of attracting investment from other countries.

2,294 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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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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