Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, everybody. Nobody else has indicated to speak. I thank the witnesses for coming. This is the third meeting we have had on this issue. We have discussed it with the Department and with IBEC previously. I share the concerns and echo the comments of the other Deputies that we get this done as fast as we can. That will be up to the committee. We will talk about this again in private.

I will make just a brief comment. Mr. Sweeney said there is a risk if we miss out on significant opportunities and if we wait until 2024. Mr. Gaffney said that while there is potentially €415 million to €1.6 billion to play for, a conservative estimate is that a lot of that will not be available to latecomers. We are aware of what Mr. Gaffney is saying. We have to progress this if we want to progress it as fast as possible; otherwise, we will lose out. The reason for the proposed date in May 2024 is that there will be local elections on that day. I cannot see how we would have a stand-alone referendum on this. It would be very difficult to explain to the general public what it is about. The committee has had three meetings on it and it is just about clear to us now, after those three meetings, so it will be a difficult one to explain to people.

I thank the witnesses for coming in and assisting the committee with its consideration of this. We will discuss the matter with Department officials. I think we will look for one or two more submissions from other organisations. We will probably do a report on the matter after that, but the committee will decide. Is that agreed?