Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome chairman, Councillor Paul Canning and vice chairman, Councillor Hugh Hastings and Ms Carol Margey, manager. The cross-Border regions, particularly those along the western areas of the island, faced many economic difficulties. It is relentlessly on our agenda. The committee has to exert pressure on both governments to get action. The mission to promote cross-Border economic development for the benefit of the 400,000 people in the region is even more important today as our economies recover from the recession. We must ensure that the people of the Border areas share in that economic recovery. It emerges from the group's presentation that there is strong collaboration at local authority level but the extent of commitment and co-operation between government Departments, North and South, is much less evident. The group's conclusions reflect a lessening of the political commitment by both governments in recent years to cross-Border co-operation and to the economic welfare of the communities along the Border areas. Councillor Canning lists, as a first priority, connectivity, access and infrastructure. This committee has championed the case for proceeding urgently with the upgrading of the N2 road from Clontibret to the Border and proceeding urgently with the upgrade of the A5 road and the N14 from Letterkenny to Lifford. This is the most important infrastructure investment to open up the Border areas and the north west for trade and investment. Yet, it has disappeared off the political radar. I encourage the group to campaign even more intensely for the investment to proceed and to join with the other cross-Border networks, Irish Central Border Area Network Limited, ICBAN and East Border Region. In so doing, the entire Border area will benefit.

I fully support the three conclusions set out by Councillor Hastings. In particular, the committee should support a renewed focus on the development of the Border area. Through the group's manager, Ms Carol Margey, the group is actively participating in a more formalised approach to the development of the entire region through the Border development's own corridor concept. I commend its initiative in hosting a joint conference on 2 October with the central Border network and East Border Region - at this time of great change in local authorities - to focus on more collaboration in the interest of the economic welfare of the 1 million people living in those areas. It is past time to put cross-Border co-operation and the economic regeneration of the Border areas back on the political radar of both governments, and their respective Departments, and the North-South Ministerial Council. I support Deputy Smith's call to hear from the relevant government officials on both sides. That is a sound proposal. I ask the Chairman and clerk to the committee to arrange for this. Further to the meeting with the secretariat of the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh - the committee pushed this at the meeting - it must be asked was it listening to our concerns? Will the secretariat impress on the North-South Ministerial Council how important the committee regards these issues?