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

I take that point and would not like to be in any way dismissive of that. We need to keep that issue under constant review. On the reconciliation fund, we have increased it by €1 million, which is an increase of almost 25%. I would like to see us continuing to increase it. I hate to say it but politics in Northern Ireland and the relationship between communities is quite fragile. We may well have to invest much more time and financial resources to try to work with UK authorities to ensure that regardless of what decisions are made in respect of Brexit, we will maintain a calm and supportive position, in particular through community leaders who reach out in a responsible way through many of the programmes we fund. While I accept that the sum of €1 million may seem to be small, in the context of increasing the fund from €2.7 million to €3.7 million, it is a considerable increase in percentage terms.