Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome this opportunity to discuss these issues with the Taoiseach. This is one of the most positive engagements I have had since I entered the Dáil in the sense of the possibilities and opportunities that have opened up and been presented to us. It is very clear that we are all on the same page in respect of where we need to go and what we need to do. I acknowledge all of the research reports that have been done, including the NESC report, that the Taoiseach mentioned. There are very good recommendations, evidence and solid work in there. I tuned into of the launch of the one on education this morning in which there was very good stuff. These will only be as valuable as their implementation but I hear what the Taoiseach is saying in terms of the resources being put into them. I accept his sincerity in trying to bring this forward. He quoted Mr. Donogh O'Malley who stated: "We will be judged by future generations on what we did for the ... [education of our children]". It hit home for me. Too often party politics is played with. We just need to get over it.

I hear what the Taoiseach is saying about people stretching themselves. It is only out of our comfort zones that we will really achieve the success we need to achieve and to achieve what Mr. Donogh O'Malley achieved through education. That is being borne out now in terms of where we are at. That is not to say we have achieved everything but in terms of the knock-on impact on wages and productivity, especially with inflation and all the other challenges that we have, the work being done forms a very solid foundation for all of that.

It will be no surprise to the Taoiseach or to Senator Blaney that the Belfast-Dublin corridor is obviously important but the Atlantic innovation corridor is very important. We know the figures and evidence of the regional gaps that need to be addressed. The western rail corridor and the Atlantic Technological University fit into all of that. We almost have a perfect storm in the opportunities we have. Maybe I should not call it a storm. However, if the technological university, the Atlantic innovation corridor and all the other initiatives are resourced properly - they have to be more than names - we can achieve an awful lot collectively on this island. I am certainly excited about that.

I will ask the Taoiseach about student mobility on the island. He may know I am a rapporteur for a report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. The work this morning was very useful and we will use parts of that report. We can achieve a lot that way. We only had 1,624 students from the North attend higher education institutions in the South and only 2,085 students from the South attend higher education institutions in the North. That is 1% and 3.5%, respectively. Good things are being done by individual institutions but, as the Taoiseach said, we need to get beyond that to something more systematic. Is he committed to increasing those numbers? Does he see a role for the shared island unit in this regard, maybe in leading the way on bursaries or scholarships? I acknowledge some are being provided for post-doctoral and doctoral students engaged in cancer research, which I welcome. However, we could lead the way at undergraduate level if some funding from the shared island unit 2 was put into that, if we there is room to manoeuvre.

I have to ask the Taoiseach about engaging with the diaspora and the issue of giving the vote to the diaspora, and to the people in the North in the presidential election. Where is that at? I apologise to Deputy Tully. I have taken up considerable time. I am fairly enthusiastic about this.