Ms Michelle Gildernew:

It is great to see Dr. Soares, Dr. Ní Lochlainn, Ms Farrell and Mr. Quinn here today and I thank them for their insightful contribution. I also apologise for the interruption of the dog.

I represent a Border constituency and a significant number of issues have had an impact on all of us since Brexit in particular but also since the onset of Covid. These include the furlough payments North and South and how it impacted us. I have constituents who have worked a lifetime in the South but live in the North. They pay taxes and so on but were left outside of those support payments. I also want to draw Dr. Soares on the issues of cross-border taxation and all that it involves, which he spoke about in reply to Dr. Farry's question. I am interested to hear about that. It might be useful if we, at some stage, invited the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to speak about these issues in order to give us an insight into cross-border taxation and how this committee can have an impact on that. Has the ad hocgroup had or requested much engagement with Government Ministers, particularly in regard to the Citizens' Assembly? I am keen to hear the group's thoughts on the engagement regarding that. While we welcome the all-Ireland women's forum and other levels of engagement, we are still facing a deficit in terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Some of the guarantees and promises made therein have still not been addressed, specifically on a bill of rights. Had that been in place, life might have been a lot less complicated for those of us who represent people on the Border. If Dr. Soares can talk about those issues, I would be keen to take his thoughts into consideration. I thank the witnesses for a valuable morning.