I’ll do my best, Chair. Anyway, I was a member of the previous Assembly’s Enterprise and Business Committee, and I did take part in the 2012 inquiry into international connectivity through Welsh ports. Again, in February 2016, that committee reported on the potential of the maritime economy. Of course, we all know that much has changed since then. Brexit looms and it does have a massive implication for our ports. So, I’m really pleased to see that this committee has revisited this particular issue.

As somebody who represents Mid and West Wales, and that actually means most of the coastline of Wales, I understand the reality of this particular topic in our area. We have harbours like Burry Port, Aberaeron and Pwllheli, two major docks at Fishguard and Milford Haven, and they are absolutely integral to the economy, especially that economy in Mid and West Wales. I am hugely concerned about the potential of leaving the customs union, the single market, the common fisheries policy and the EU’s environmental frameworks, and that will represent dramatic changes for those ports.

We know that there will be global opportunities, but it does remain the fact that nearly half of UK exports and more than half of imports are to and from the EU. We have to get Brexit right, and that does mean not impeding trade at customs and checkpoints. It is absolutely critical. The committee report does highlight that at present over 70 per cent of Irish cargo passes through Wales, mostly roll-on and roll-off at Holyhead, which has already been mentioned. But that also happens in Fishguard and in Pembroke as well.

So, it’s fairly obvious that I, therefore, share the concerns that the committee has that a soft border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would disadvantage Wales to the benefit of the English and the Scottish ports with those Northern Ireland connections. That is if it’s a soft border, because what we don’t know at this point is what on earth this Government intends to do. I note the Prime Minister in her Florence speech was once again conspicuously silent on this huge and problematic question.

I’ve recently read some interesting reports on how the border between Norway and Sweden operates. Norway, as quite a few Brexiteers—and I’m not one—were eager to point out during the referendum campaign, has the closest possible trading relationship with the EU without actually being part of that bloc. The two countries have had border agreements since 1959, and Norway with the EU since 1997, yet smuggling remains a huge problem. As a result, last year alone, there were nearly 0.25 million vehicle checks at that crossing. In short, the Norway-Sweden experience suggests that, even without the island of Ireland’s unique circumstance, plans for a frictionless border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be difficult to achieve.

Nonetheless, we have to ensure that Welsh ports are best prepared for whatever the post-Brexit arrangement is. People have mentioned here today—so I won’t go into the detail, to save some time—the report on the technological solutions to speed up checks. They are not there at the moment. That availability is there, but the infrastructure is clearly not there. I wouldn’t actually set any great store on this Government giving Wales any extra money to be prepared for anything whatsoever, because we’ve already seen their reneging on promises of infrastructure development in Wales so far. So, I really don’t think that we can rely on that in any shape or form, but I do agree with one thing here already, and that is the fact that we will be watching—