Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I might say a few words following which the witnesses can answer all the questions put. I support what Senator Blaney said. If we look at what happened in Germany, there was a rush on the part of both the east and the west to have unification with consent but there was an increasing tax burden on people. We are in the opposite position here. If unification ever does happen a significant minority may not want to be part of a united Ireland. In the poll published in the Sunday Independentat the weekend the question of who would pay for it and whether people would accept an additional burden was raised. If and when it ever happens we would need to have an international fund involving the EU, the United States, our Republic and the United Kingdom that would plan for and meet some of those deficits over an agreed period of years.

The most important point that Professor FitzGerald and Professor Morgenroth have brought to the table is the same one they made on the previous day. It is that the inequalities in education at the very basic level prevent ordinary people in the North reaching their full educational capacity and that those who do get that advantage do not work there to any significant extent. Too many of them leave the North and work elsewhere.

What we need is a plan for the coming years. Senator McGreehan mentioned that each Department would have a dedicated unit to examine where it might go and how it might converge. We need people like the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, before the committeeto itemise some of those other issues. In any event, it is a huge task and if we do not have consensus in that regard, it will not work. That is my view. We need to deal with all the issues such as the deficit in infrastructure, health and education in a planned way before a united Ireland, if it were to happen tomorrow, would really work. Does any other member wish to speak before I call our witnesses?