The DUP's claims that the Northern Ireland Protocol is increasing the cost of living in the region are inaccurate, a fact-checking organisation has said.
A claim by DUP MP Ian Paisley that the Brexit deal on Irish Sea trade is "adding 27% additional costs to everything in Northern Ireland" is not supported by evidence, FactCheck NI concluded.
It also said DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's claim during a televised election debate that consumers in Northern Ireland pay "4% more per item" than in Great Britain was incorrect.
Read more: Key points in Northern Ireland Protocol legislation and what happens next in Brexit dispute
The fact-checking group accused the DUP of a "brazen" example of "cherry picking facts to suit a narrative".
With the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine driving up inflation rates globally, it said it is difficult to determine the impact of the Protocol on the cost of living.
The DUP has been blocking the restoration of Stormont power-sharing until its concerns are addressed over the Protocol, arguing that it is "damaging Northern Ireland".
Mr Paisley made his claims about the Protocol on the BBC's Nolan Show last month.
The North Antrim MP said: "The Protocol is adding 27% additional costs to everything in Northern Ireland, because of the additional costs associated with the Protocol.
"The cost of transporting things over and the added cost the Protocol adds to transport. If you think costs of living are high in GB mainland, for people in Northern Ireland, add an additional 27%."
It followed a similar claim in April by Orange Order grand secretary Rev Mervyn Gibson, who told BBC Talkback he understood "goods coming in here are raised 27% because of a direct result of the Protocol coming from GB".
FactCheck NI said the claim "doesn't make sense" as the Protocol only applies to goods, not services, and not everything sold in Northern Ireland is transported through Great Britain.
It said there is currently no evidence that the price of everything has increased by 27% or more due to the Protocol.
The DUP told the fact-check group that Mr Paisley was referring specifically "to the cost of moving goods from GB to NI" and the 27% figure was based on research by the Road Haulage Association.
However, FactCheck NI said this is "not fully representative of the whole logistics industry".
Logistics UK told the organisation that no full survey has been carried out with the industry about Protocol-related costs.
FactCheck NI said it was a "complicated picture" with higher haulage costs also driven by increased fuel, ferry and labour costs.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson made his claims about the Protocol during the BBC NI leaders' debate ahead of May's Assembly election.
The Lagan Valley MP said: "As a direct result of the increased cost in bringing food products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland due to the Protocol, consumers in Northern Ireland are now paying on average 4% more per item than they are in Great Britain at the moment.”
Sir Jeffrey also said the consumers in Northern Ireland were paying 8% more for dairy products and 19% more for chilled convenience goods than people in Great Britain.
He cited a report from analysts Kantar commissioned by Stormont's Department for the Economy.
FactCheck NI said that while some of Sir Jeffrey's stats are supported, the Kantar analysis found that grocery prices in Great Britain are on average 8% higher than they are in Northern Ireland.
It added: "What the DUP has done is select a few of the food categories involved in the Kantar research, glued a few together and said that, if you only factor those ones in (ignoring some others), then it looks like prices are higher here – despite the fact the report they are quoting says the opposite.
"Cherry picking facts to suit a narrative is one of the mainstays of the modern age of mis- and dis-information. Rarely, however, is it quite this brazen."
Concluding its report, FactCheck NI said: "It is difficult to examine the full effect of the Protocol on consumer prices in Northern Ireland for a number of reasons.
"If the Protocol is driving up costs, this would represent an inflationary pressure but detailed, specific, comprehensive inflationary figures for Northern Ireland are not collected.
"Inflation is also running rampant around the world. This is due in large part to massive disruptions; not least the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
"They represent two world-altering events and the timing of both makes counterfactual information to measure the effects of the Protocol on NI difficult to pin down readily."
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