Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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If I may, I will just ask one more short question on the €1.4 million cost of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. Is that the annual cost or total cost of that citizens' assembly? Is it in line with the costs of citizens' assemblies held in the past? I ask because it is time for a citizens' assembly on Irish unity. As the Taoiseach knows, the Good Friday Agreement provides for a referendum on Irish unity. It was interesting last week to have Dr. Claire Mitchell before the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The Taoiseach will be aware that she wrote a book The Ghost Limb: Alternative Protestants and the Spirit of 1798. His colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, invited Dr. Mitchell to the audiovisual room to talk about her book a couple of weeks ago. She described the unionist and Protestant people as diverse, progressive and liberal and said a section of them are unity-curious. She said it would help the debate grow among the unionist community if an offer of what a united Ireland would look like was made to the unionist and Protestant people. She also said, as do most of the witnesses who come before that committee, that we need to start planning and discussing what a united Ireland would look like in order that we can present a positive vision for the future. There are so many different people from all walks of life who want to be part of this conversation. There is work being done by Joanne McEvoy, Eilish Rooney and many more academics across the board who are linking up with the communities, especially the hard-to-reach voices. It is not only about getting their views but having them participate in a vision for a new Ireland we can have.

The Taoiseach has a really good opportunity to provide a framework for all that work to be done. One of the best ways to do that is through a citizens' assembly, although not exclusively. We should not be afraid to have a citizens' assembly on what a new Ireland would look like in the event of reunification. People are calling for one to be able to discuss the economy, health, climate change and all the things we do on an all-island basis. I commend the Taoiseach on the resources he put into the Magee campus when he was Minister for further and higher education and the work we did around the Higher Education Authority legislation that has tasked all the higher education institutions with developing a plan on student mobility across the island. As such, he gets it and understands what needs to be done. As Taoiseach, he is in a very privileged position to bring that further along. This is not getting away from a citizens’ assembly because I really want to see a citizens’ assembly on Irish unity.