Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his presentation. A number of aspects of it stand out. He spoke about economic sustainability. Obviously, an alarming number of young people in the Six Counties and in the Twenty-six Counties are unemployed. If people can work together for the common good as part of an all-Ireland economy, that will play a central part in building peace and reconciliation and developing long-term peace.

As both Governments are co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, they are obliged to deliver agreement on issues like the past, parades and flags, and the Haass report. How do they propose to proceed, given that the efforts of Dr. Haass have not been successful to date? It must be stressed that at least 90% of the people on the island of Ireland were very supportive of his efforts to try to reach agreement. Clearly, his initiative was resisted by sections of the Unionist parties. How does the Government hope to bring about a successful conclusion to this process?

Dealing with the past, with the legacies of the conflict, is a big part of reconciliation. As an island, we have done very well to get an acceptable police force in the Six Counties. That seemed to be impossible at one stage but was achieved by democratising the workings of the entire police system and establishing various policing boards and authorities. Perhaps this jurisdiction could learn from the work that has been done in the North with regard to accountability. I refer to the work of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, for example. We do not want to lose any of this. Reconciliation cannot come about unless people are able to deal with the past. The future can be shaped as a consequence of dealing with the past. It does not appear that serious efforts are being made to bring about that.

The Minister of State referred to "creating a sustainable peace and [providing] the mechanism to develop a strong all-island economy". How does he hope to do that? What role will the Irish Government play in that regard? I understand that a number of initiatives which were taking place did not stand the test of time. They were successful in the short term but they were not followed up. When cross-Border economic initiatives are being pursued, it is essential for them to be sustainable. How does the Government hope to bring about that sustainability?