Concerns expressed by DUP and TUV representatives about Stormont job overseeing Irish Sea border

DUP peer Lord Dodds says it is clear evidence of “long term damage” being inflicted by the Windsor Framework and raised concerns about further costs to the public purse.

TUV councillor David Clarke said the role wouldn’t be necessary if the DUP’s claims about its deal in January were true.

The circa £59,000 per year Head of Regulatory Divergence Co-Ordination has been advertised by the NI Civil Service – and the successful candidate will co-ordinate Stormont departments’ “interests in the ongoing roll out of Common Frameworks for regulatory consistency across the UK”.

Lord Dodds said: “The recruitment of an official in a senior role to oversee the effects of regulatory divergence between NI and the rest of the UK is clear evidence of the long term damage being inflicted by the Protocol/Windsor Framework. More public money is now being spent on managing the Irish Sea Border on top of the hundreds of millions being spent on helping traders navigate it. No doubt there will be more staff recruited to assist this official and the costs and administrative burdens will increase. It is fascinating that for all the cries in government about lack of finance to do things there is no shortage when to it comes to bureaucracy to man the restrictions of the unacceptable and unnecessary border within the UK”.

Carrickfergus TUV councillor David Clarke descrined the cost as “very concerning”.

He added: “The DUP brazenly told us in January and February of this year that they had removed the Irish Sea border, blocked the pipeline of EU Law, that the green lane was gone, that there would be zero checks and zero paperwork and that they had restored our place in the UK. If this was true then why would this role be necessary? It’s blatantly obvious that The Donaldson Deal changed not one word of substance of The Protocol/Framework nor removed one syllable of EU Law”.

He said it is another illustration of the devastating consequences of the Protocol.