Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Higgins and Mr. Roberts for their presentations. I will try not to be too long-winded but I will touch on a number of issues. It is great to hear the witnesses say that Retail Northern Ireland and Retail Excellence Ireland will work together on an all-island retail sector basis. However, when and if a hard Brexit happens, I hope they are as co-operative because when it comes down to product and price, everybody will start fighting for their own. Leaving aside currency fluctuations, could the witnesses comment on what sectors other than the ones we referred to that are constantly being referred to in respect of smuggling may be affected? I know the witnesses cannot second-guess that. I do not want to dwell on smuggling today because other committees are dealing with it but anecdotally, we are told that the issue of oil has not gone away. While the marker, North and South, is an excellent product that upsets it, the smuggling problem has already moved to home heating oil involving the same amount of product and the same amount of money is being lost to the Exchequer. Could the witnesses comment on the volatility of other products in a post-Brexit situation?

Deputy Smith would like to see the Enterprise service move into the west. What a pity that the Dundalk-Bundoran line was ever lifted. I am old enough to remember it. It runs through the parish I live in. One wonders whether it needs to be brought back in terms of the regions because it certainly linked people through to where the Enterprise runs at present. Recently, there were calls for submissions to Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, about the future of train services. Did Retail Northern Ireland and Retail Excellence Ireland make submissions because it is very easy to miss the boat? I am glad the witnesses raised the availability of funding and the window for that because I anticipate this is what TII is looking at relative to the Enterprise service. A lot of it runs through my constituency. We were always told at local authority level that the capacity of the line is such that it cannot take any more traffic because of safety issues relating to the number of trains that can travel between destinations. There are many calls along the line for additional train stations, which will slow down the service rather than speed it up. I have often thought it was a pity that in terms of the development of the M1, nobody had the foresight to use a portion of the space along the motorway to create a new line. I do not think this is beyond the bounds of possibility. It is a question of how we can improve capacity on the line.

I agree regarding the retail opportunities in tourism. Many years ago, the North-South Ministerial Council asked us what issue was non-contentious and could be dealt with in a North-South sense. Tourism was clearly the one that was identified. I do not mean to be critical but in respect of the selling of a North-South tourism product, again, I am going to be parochial and refer to the Mourne mountains and the Cooley mountains as a joint marketing area that sticks out a mile, not to mention along the rest of the Border. It has not happened. Indeed, very little effort is made when one considers the small number of airports along the east corridor - Derry, the two in Belfast and Dublin. There is no marketing of the aforementioned two region either at airports or to our diaspora in the UK. I have requested on several occasions that toll booths take sterling. It is a "no-brainer". They do not want to know about it. How are we welcoming people who are coming with sterling? Unless they have a credit card to pay with, they will not entertain it. The issue needs to be raised in respect of transport.

The issue of special status was referred to. Ms Higgins referred to it as a special position. We have heard words like "bespoke". I could go through the dictionary in this regard but I wish to make clear that Fianna Fáil's belief is that special status is needed not just for Northern Ireland but the Border region. I firmly believe that this is the approach that needs to be taken regarding getting a full buy-in to the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process in a European context. Spatial planning relative to the development of any of our towns is another issue. I have always said that if Newry benefits, Dundalk benefits and vice versa- be it in employment or trade. I have already described the triggering of Article 50 as a mayday in history because I do not think it is going to help any of us but I hope that through co-operation between the two retail sectors and working together, we can minimise negative elements and, hopefully, explore opportunities. I thank the witnesses for their presentations.