T3. Mr Allister asked the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, in light of the fact that the Donaldson deal promised the establishment of an independent monitoring panel to, in its words, "uphold the economic rights of the people of Northern Ireland" and "protect Northern Ireland's place in the Union", albeit in an answer to a question for written answer received today, the Minister said that he is unaware of an independent monitoring panel's ever having been established, to outline how his Department, all these months on, in the absence of the promised panel, interacts on those issues with the relevant UK Department. (AQT 403/22-27)

I previously wrote to the UK Government asking for an update on what the Member asked about in his question, and it is correct that the independent monitoring panel has not been established. However, I do not need panels to engage with the UK Government; I do that regularly. Before the election period, I was doing it almost daily. I have meetings every month with UK Government Ministers, because I come to this job not searching for problems but looking for solutions. That is my entire focus in the Department. I said during my first Question Time and will say it again today: my ultimate aim in this Ministry is to make the whole issue of EU exit extremely boring. When other people go looking for problems, I go looking for solutions to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland, because they are tired of this. They are tired of people rehashing old arguments. They want people focusing on delivery for the citizens of Northern Ireland. We just talked about Lough Neagh. We want to deliver on that. If people want to rehash old arguments about EU exit, that is up to them. I am focusing on solutions and doing good work on veterinary medicines and other issues, because that is what I want to do as Minister.

Minister, given that your powers and controls over the Irish Sea border have been removed from you, how are you accountable to the House for the functions exercised by your Department, over which, apparently, you have been denied access and control? What sort of democratic accountability is that?

I am accountable to the House for matters that are under my direction and control, and I am happy to answer any questions during this Question Time. The ultimate denial of democratic accountability was two years — two years — when the Assembly did not sit. We could not debate the issues that we are debating today. We could not debate the state of our health service. We could not debate the situation in education. Even worse, we could not do anything about those things. It is important that these institutions are back. We may have different views, and we may debate things —.

But you have no powers.

We have way more powers than we had before February —

You have no powers over the Irish Sea border.

Order.

— and I am focused on delivering on those issues with my Executive colleagues, because politics is about the art of the possible, not blocking and stopping things.