Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The way the petition is phrased is unfortunate and its phraseology probably prevents the committee from being able to bring it forward for greater debate. The substantive desire in the petition, however, needs more debate in Leinster House. There is an increasing number of people, North and South, who wish to seek Irish unity and there has been a change in the demographics on the island. We have the issue of Brexit, which is barrelling along and will happen less than 50 days from now. The only solution to a hard border is no border for many people. This Government and the Oireachtas need to get to grips with the issue of Irish unity in a far deeper manner and start to prepare for it. It is dangerous for the Oireachtas to have its head in the sand with regard to what is happening North and South. The Government needs to start instituting plans for the development of Irish unity.

There are many steps we could take in advance of Brexit which would strengthen the all-Ireland economy, help to ameliorate the worst threats of Brexit and lead to convergence on both sides of the island in a range of areas such as healthcare, taxation, education and so on. This would lead to economies of scale, efficiencies and larger markets and have positive outputs for everybody and improve lives of people across the island of Ireland. We have seen a number of political developments in the past week or so which have led to more of an all-Ireland perspective in politics of Ireland. While the language of the petition makes it impossible for the committee to continue with it, the issue of Irish unity contained within it needs to be one that demands far more debate in Leinster House.