Statement by TUV Upper Bann Assembly candidate Darrin Foster:
“TUV has warned for some time that the Protocol is quite literally bad for your health. With this morning’s revelation in the Daily Telegraph that it will result in a shortage of Covid tests in Northern Ireland no one can honesty deny this.
“When the EU’s Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation comes into force just a few weeks after the election, Northern Ireland will be removed from the Covid Test Device Approval (CTDA) regulations in order to comply with the Protocol. This will result in fewer and lower quality Covid tests in Northern Ireland as many of the tests come from Great Britain. Tellingly, in the Republic, which of course follows the EU system, tests have always been only obtained via a charge and they have been plagued by shortages.
“Here, once again, we have an example of the impact of the pernicious Protocol on the day to day lives of ordinary people in Northern Ireland.
“The Protocol is not only cyanide to the Union but quite literally bad for your health. It has to go in all its parts and, quite frankly, those who campaigned for the Protocol and who implemented in order to remain in office need to examine the real life impact of their decisions.”