Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill (2023) and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, what discussions he has had with colleagues in Westminster and Northern Ireland regarding the impact of the December 2023 sunset clause on legislation contained within the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK Government is committed to ensuring that necessary legislation is in place to uphold the UK’s international obligations, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement after the sunset date in the Retained EU Law Bill.

UK Government Officials have been proactively engaging with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service on the progress of the Bill and the wider retained EU law reform programme and have established regular intergovernmental meetings intended to support devolved counterparts with the identification of which REUL is devolved or reserved, as part of the retained EU law reform programme and wider Whitehall departmental engagement. The UK Government is committed to sustained engagement with devolved counterparts as part of this work.