Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. It is good to have Ms Higgins back in the Houses of the Oireachtas again. I know from meetings I have held with Mr. Roberts over the past years that he has been a very strong advocate for co-operation between the retail sectors North and South. I welcome the fact that the witnesses are here together making a joint presentation.

Where I come from we can all be parochial when the currency fluctuation suits us, with trade coming South or drifting North, but no sustainable economy can be built on currency fluctuations in a neighbouring jurisdiction. It is important to have co-operation on all of the island between Retail Excellence Ireland and the Retail Northern Ireland.

The presentation is very good, concise and comprehensive and paints a picture of the serious concerns in the retail sector throughout the country. Last July at the meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly John Taylor was excited about Brexit and what it would do for the economies of Newry, Strabane and Enniskillen. I told him in fairly pungent terms that if he was hoping the economies of Fermanagh, Tyrone, Down and Armagh could be built on a fluctuating currency it would not be very sustainable. We want to see a sustainable economy throughout the island. There is great potential there for co-operation and having an all-Ireland retail policy.

Ms Higgins and Mr Roberts emphasise the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise network. Cities the size of Dublin and Belfast will look after themselves. I would be very concerned that there will be even more growth in the east of our country following Brexit than in the past and the imbalance between the west and the east will be exacerbated. I want to see both cities grow but there is a greater need for infrastructural development outside that corridor than in it. The A5 and the N2 are not going too far too fast, unfortunately. We have heard presentations at this committee by Donegal, Strabane, Fermanagh, Omagh and Monaghan councils about the delays which are a source of real concern for the north west all the way to my constituency in Monaghan. I would like to see greater interest devoted to areas outside the Dublin-Belfast corridor, not to take away from the fact that it would be good if the expressway service can be improved and invested in but that cannot be to the exclusion of the infrastructural needs of other parts of Ulster and south Ulster.