Commenting afterwads Mrs Dodds said, "This was a useful opportunity to highlight the damage the Northern Ireland Protocol is doing to political progress and economic development in Northern Ireland
As a Member of the European Parliament for many years I lost count of the times that i heard of the need for the Belfast Agreement to be honoured in both its letter and spirit. The principle of consent is absolutely core to the Belfast Agreement yet the Protocol sees that turned on its head.
The Protocol simply is not compatible with the Belfast Agreement or with any of the key planks upon which political progress in Northern Ireland has been built. If the European Parliament and the wider European Union wants to honour the Belfast Agreement then they can do so by respecting the consent mechanism contained within it.
The barriers to trade erected by the Protocol within the United Kingdom are not only contrary to the Belfast Agreement but they are having a direct impact upon our economy. They are costing our economy £850 million per year yet they offer none of the protection of the EU Single Market they are supposedly there to protect.
There is no justification for the Protocol other than a desire to punish the United Kingdom for leaving the European Union. There is still time however to secure an outcome which works for both the UK and the EU. That must respect Northern Ireland's constitutional and economic integrity. If the European Union cannot accept those basic principles then it will fall to the UK Government to take the necessary action to deliver this."