Ms Órfhlaith Begley:

I thank Ms O'Donoghue for her presentation. It was very useful. As Ms Gildernew said, the shared island unit is to be welcomed, particularly given the times we are in with Brexit and Covid-19 foisted upon us. There is need now more than ever before to ensure there is North-South co-operation.

I would like to comment on the shared island fund. The witnesses indicated that there is €500 million allocated to it and that the funding is ring-fenced, which is to be welcomed. All politics being local, I want to touch on the A5 western transport corridor. This is a long awaited project, one which the Irish Government committed to in the St. Andrew's Agreement. At that time, it committed to co-fund the A5. Unfortunately, it has reneged on that commitment and currently has only committed to funding €75 million towards to it. If we are to see delivery of that project within the next five years, it is crucial that the Irish Government uplifts its current contribution in line with its original commitment, which was to co-fund the project. I would be grateful if the witnesses could give us a breakdown of how the €500 million will be allocated across the cross-Border projects and outline the timescale in that regard. I know it is probably early days in terms of a timescale for disbursal of that funding but I would welcome an update on projects that are ready to go, such as the A5 project. The Northern Ireland Minister of Finance has already committed to phase 1A. Will this commitment be matched by the Irish Government?