Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair. I hope everyone can hear me. I am in the convention centre. I welcome this debate. Any day that I can have a conversation on working towards one island and a united Ireland is a very welcome one. I congratulate the witnesses on the work they have done. Why does Mr. Murphy consistently fail to recognise the work the Irish Government is doing? Why does he downgrade the research undertaken by the Irish Government and the actions it has undertaken to work towards Ireland's future? Why is it thought that the research of Ireland's Future is on a different level and that it is the only way forward? It is surely the case that there is nothing more legitimate in working towards a shared future than the work being done by the Department of the Taoiseach.

Does Mr. Murphy not recognise that an incredible amount of research is being conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, to scope how we can converge as an island in areas such as healthcare, education, an all-island economy, foreign direct investment, FDI, and services? The NESC is doing research, with the title "Digging Deeper, into how we can work together, considering public policy on the environment and social and economic issues. The groundwork is being done but I feel it is consistently being downgraded and not being recognised.

I am from the Cooley Mountains and this is my world. All my life, I have dreamt that we will get to a point where the Department of the Taoiseach would be creating and developing documents on how we work properly on a shared island and towards a future united Ireland. In that context, does Ireland's Future recognise that more than 400 people have already engaged in an all-Ireland conversation on policy? Legitimate and well regarded non-political researchers are working towards creating policies on how we can converge as one island.