Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I certainly acknowledge that there are people here who know a lot more about Northern Ireland than me and who are living those politics and those issues every day. Our concern is that we really want to see a really prosperous, innovative and self-sustaining Northern Ireland because this would be to the benefit of everybody who lives there. It is good to have the opportunity to discuss the witnesses' perspectives on that.

In the papers they have provided, the witnesses go through the scale of the transfers from central government in the UK to Northern Ireland, which have masked part of the productivity gap for some time. There are many questions being asked about the prospect of a united Ireland at some point in the future. The witnesses highlight a whole range of issues to be considered including continuing pension obligations and Northern Ireland's share of the UK debt. There is a whole range of different considerations. We will draw out some of those issues as the meeting goes on. I am interested in what the Government can do to support development and innovation in Northern Ireland. What can we, as parliamentarians in Dublin, suggest to try to support the development of that innovative, forward-looking, strong and sustainable Northern Ireland economy?