To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for an update on her Department's Brexit preparations in line with the Northern Ireland protocol; and how many people are working on ensuring compliance with the protocol.

My Department’s Brexit preparations support the work of the Executive’s sub-committee on EU Exit Issues (of which I am a member). The sub-committee will be a key mechanism in the co-ordination of our response to the outworkings of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The First Minister and deputy First Minister have written to the Prime Minister to seek a meeting to discuss his Government’s commitments in the New Decade, New Approach deal, including those associated with the Protocol as well as the differing statements by the UK Government and the European Commission on the implications of the Protocol for the movement of goods from GB to NI.

Specifically, in Department for Infrastructure preparation terms, work is focused in two key areas:

by identifying key Departmental issues within the wider context of Northern Ireland ‘asks’, to ensure the continued delivery of Transport, Water and Planning services and to ensure that North/South operations are underpinned by harmonised and compatible regulations and practices.

and secondly by ensuring a capability to effectively contribute to Future Economic Partnership negotiations. My officials are engaging with Whitehall counterparts and are working as part of a cross departmental team to influence negotiations by ensuring the NI implications are strongly articulated.

Presently, there are 19 people across my Department spending between 50% and 100% of their time on this work.