Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na hAirí Ó Muilleoir agus Hazzard. I have a query on the co-location of businesses. Shay Murtagh Precast Concrete Solutions is a large concrete provider based in the midlands which recently finished a massive project on the London city centre underground. The company also provides the materials for and builds flyover bridges, creating great employment in the midlands. One of the directors told me that a competitor from Ireland recently bought a plant in Newcastle to insulate itself from currency fluctuations, the possible fallout of Brexit and other political problems that flow from that. Do the Ministers see an upside arising from the co-location of businesses on both sides of the Border? We have a logistical advantage in that we are one island. Is there scope jointly to target both multinational and indigenous companies to encourage them to locate in Ireland and gain from the exposure to Britain and the EU on both sides of what is, for now, mostly a notional Border? Are there any special incentives that could be offered to such companies under any of our joint trade agreements or the Good Friday Agreement framework? Indigenous companies investing in Newcastle is not a help to anybody on this island. We have a physical land mass which is exposed to both markets. Is there any extra wriggle room we can bring to bear under the Good Friday Agreement or otherwise to incentivise companies for the benefit of the economies North and South?

Will the delegates outline the situation in regard to the moneys arising from the peace dividend in the North, which has been of benefit to the counties south of the Border as well as to communities in Northern Ireland? What will happen to that large pot of money in the new circumstances in which we find ourselves?