Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:40 pm on 9 December 2020.
I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth for his question. He is right to say that the uncertainty in the wake of this stems from the negotiations between the UK Government and the EU, and it's not something that we want to see, as a Government. We don't want to see any economic impact on the port. We want to see trade continuing at its current level, and increasing, of course. But it's right to say that changes in terms of the ways of trading from Northern Ireland and the route from Northern Ireland through the Republic—there is a risk that goods coming through that route will be dealt with in a disadvantageous way compared to the direct routes. We are looking at the things that have been agreed over recent days to understand for certain, when we have access to those details, what impact that will have on the trade routes.
But, in terms of the infrastructure, as he says, at the start of the new year, our responsibilities as a Government, won't start, more or less, until midway through the next year. So, in the first six-month period, the UK Government will be leading on the infrastructure on an interim basis. But could I just say, very clearly, that the delays that have happened in terms of choosing a site, we have to look at the Westminster Government's choices in terms of the start of January, and ours then, following that—the delay then in terms of making a decision for January means that there has been a delay in the process, and we are very concerned that it won't be possible to hit the deadline in July. We're doing our best, but there's certainly a risk in that.