Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are plenty of questions there, some of which will cause a bit of controversy.

Language and culture issues have been a big part of the discussions between the DUP and Sinn Féin. These discussions have stopped for the past two weeks but there was certainly a ten-week period when we tried to facilitate private discussions on a bilateral basis between the two parties, with the support of both Governments and the Northern Ireland Office. Many issues were discussed. I would not like to pretend that the discussion was all about the Irish language and other culture and identity issues; it was not. However, they were a big part of what was discussed.

It is important to recognise that both parties were trying to find - and are still open to trying to find - a way forward on this issue. There were some very welcome statements such as, for example, from the leader of the DUP, who said to people they should not fear the Irish language and that it is part of Northern Ireland and the people there. There was also some recognition coming from the Sinn Féin leadership that there is a need for both parties to try to accommodate each other in terms of the political challenges they are facing in finding a way forward to set up the Executive.

Undoubtedly, this is an issue that cannot be fudged. We cannot have two parties pretending different outcomes because that will be exposed for what it is. As a result, there is a need for both negotiating teams to try to accommodate each other while also seeking to make real progress that is consistent with previous agreements, whereby there is legislation to deal with language and culture issues. I do not want to go into the intricacies of the legal structures and frameworks the negotiations focused on. There is a way to get this done which recognises that many people see the Irish language as part of who they are - it is part of their identity, community, Irishness and where they come from in the Northern Ireland - and which will allow us to move forward consistent with that priority,. However, we must also proceed in a way that acknowledges the sensitivities that many unionists have in the context of the need to recognise diversity in Northern Ireland, and the fact there are other language and culture issues that they prioritise. There is a way of doing this - through a legislative framework - that recognises the succinct differences between the two and the need for separation of the issues and that provides a context which incorporates them all. This is what we have been trying to find a way forward on.

If people just hold hardline positions because they say they cannot sell anything else to their political base, then the stalemate continues. That is why there is a need for a willingness to try to understand the problems that others face. To be fair, there have been real efforts to try to do this and we are much further down the line than we would have been a number of months ago on this issue in terms of trying to find an outcome that can work.

I know I have made a lot of generalisations. It is helpful, however, if I do not go into the exact details because I hope the parties will be around the table again at some stage in the not too distant future to try to find a way forward towards setting up a devolved government.

There are very real issues on citizens' rights generally linked to Brexit, because Irish citizens and British citizens will have their issues in terms of moving, working and accessing social services resolved between Britain and Ireland. A French, German, Spanish, Polish or Dutch citizen living in Ireland can move between the islands, but he or she does not have any of the other automatic rights. He or she cannot work necessarily, unless perhaps he or she goes through a permit system or whatever happens to be agreed in the context of EU nationals having the right to work in the UK in future. It will be likewise for UK citizens in the context of working within the Single Market. These issues will be part of the negotiation as we move on.

In terms of poverty in the Border region and infrastructural investment, these can be linked to the question asked about the A5. Senior officials maintain a close eye on the proposed A5 project as it proceeds through the planning process in Northern Ireland, subject to the successful completion of statutory procedures. A decision can then be made regarding progression onto construction stage. The project's spend profile, including the €75 million Irish Government commitments, will be reviewed in the context of the planning process as it progresses.

In the coming months, the Government will publish a ten-year capital plan. This will commit approximately €100 billion of expenditure for the next ten years for a population growth of over 1 million. Ireland is now the fastest growing and youngest population in the European Union, as well as the fastest growing economy in the European Union. We have real momentum and we need to invest to plan for this and accommodate it in terms of schools, hospitals, roads, rail networks, public transport systems, social housing and so many other things. The fact that we need to recognise the strategic importance of the A5 will be part of the discussion. I am certainly not in a position to be able to announce today what the Government will do in this context but I am confident that we will take a very positive view of the A5 in the capital plan. However, that is a matter for the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, to clarify in the coming months. I recognise its strategic importance and the benefits of such a piece of infrastructure in the context of linking the north west, particularly Donegal, to the rest of the country, providing connectivity along the line, servicing the populations that live along it and the economic corridor it would open up.

On access to GP services, one of the great frustrations in terms of North-South co-operation and projects involving practical co-operation on human or animal health that are good for communities on both sides of the Border is that if we do not have Ministers to sign off on these measures, we cannot progress them. Some people seem to think that the status quoin Northern Ireland is okay, that the latter will continue to limp on and that, perhaps, the assembly was not working so well in any event. The truth is that as time goes on people will begin to realise - in very real terms - that the status quois not okay and that people's lives will be impacted upon by this in terms of the inability of local political representatives to be able to make local decisions in respect of schools and hospitals or to respond to issues such as flooding.

The downsides to not having functioning devolved government will become evident and may become highly divisive in Northern Ireland. In the absence of devolved government, we have signalled that, just as when there is any impasse or challenge in the context of Northern Ireland, we will revert to the Good Friday Agreement, which is the basis and foundation for everything in this area. We have made clear that the structures in terms of east-west and North-South co-operation in the context of the absence of devolved government would need to be triggered. The Taoiseach made that clear, which did not go down well with some people because the idea of devolved government means different things to different people. To us, it means the implementation of what is in the Good Friday Agreement, not a version of direct rule that some others would like to see and, therefore, we will be sticking to that agreement in full. Part of the agreement provides for a potential British-Irish intergovernmental conference structure but that is not where we want to be. That is where we will be forced to go if we cannot find a way to put devolved government back in place but neither the Irish nor British Government wants that and nor do unionists or nationalists. It is not a good way of governing a country but it is what we will be forced into in the absence of a functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland. That absence takes the heart out of the Good Friday Agreement because everything is built around having a functioning devolved government structure that allows practical and sensible North-South co-operation and much local decision making that helps to progress many of the other ambitions of the agreement. That does not cut across the fact that the United Kingdom Government is the sovereign Government in Northern Ireland, which nobody is challenging. However, we have a legal responsibility as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and the absence of devolved government triggers the use of structures in the Good Friday Agreement consistent with the responsibilities that we have and the British Government has, which makes some people uncomfortable. It is to be hoped that will remind people of the necessity to find a way to get devolved government up and running again.

I share Senator Black's concerns in terms of legacy. When we met the commissioner for victims last week, she raised the issue with me. Within the Stormont House Agreement, there is quite a strong response on health supports in Northern Ireland for those who have suffered trauma. It is important that we look at North-South co-operation in terms of learning some lessons to ensure that those who may be traumatised from the Troubles and are living south of the Border have access to the kind of supports we all recognise are needed and that are available north of the Border. The Government needs to consider that and I will speak to the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, in that regard from a health support point of view.