Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the sentiments of the witnesses regarding the potential of third level education to accelerate our situation. On joined-up thinking, I refer to my exasperation with a specific issue which might highlight where we are. When I was elected to Leinster House in February, one of the first things that I brought to the attention of Government was the South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre, which is the highest-functioning technology gateway in the country, dealing with medical device manufacturers from Waterford to Letterkenny.

We have been awaiting funding of €2.8 million for a CT X-ray scanner and despite the fact that the Government has now put out almost €30 million in Covid-19 innovation funding, the money for that scanner has still not been dropped. That is a singular piece of technology that could accelerate integration across to the UK. I remind everybody the kind of game we are in. As Ms King highlighted, it is vital that everybody is talking. These things should be discussed, particularly in industry and education. We could drive on from here but we can only do that if we get together.

We also must get the ears of Government and senior civil servants. Despite all of the positive things that can be said, I will say that it is difficult, as a Deputy, to try to get these messages across. We have to keep on putting them across to try to get any action on something that should be a no-brainer.