Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would argue with Mr. Gough on that. He said earlier that the island of Ireland was very good. It is a bit misleading to say something like that when the North of Ireland is very poor at sourcing funding, especially under research and innovation. From our trip to Brussels we discovered that Europe wants Horizon 2020 to go towards generating jobs. I believe InterTradeIreland should be upfront and honest in admitting that the North is not very good at doing it and needs to improve dramatically. That message needs to be put out there instead of letting people get complacent. If the Northern Ireland economy is to be driven, we need to tell the truth that they are not quite as good as we are down here and have to learn from what is happening down here. We regularly meet our colleagues from the North and are willing to give whatever assistance we can to push them on that.