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

I believe the Chairman may allow me to speak first as I am not a permanent member of this committee but am obviously very interested in the discussion this morning. I am a member of the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and these issues overlap. Indeed, I believe that had we had the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent agreements, many of the issues which we are trying to grapple with now would have already been solved but that is to look back.

I apologise to the committee that I have had to go in and out to other meetings while this meeting has been in session. I thank our guest contributors for their submissions, which are very good. It is important that we are all on the same page here and that we fill in the knowledge gaps which each of us have on this issue.

Returning to what Professor Shirlow was saying there that nobody has mapped or modelled the protocol; we have not measured the full extent of the opportunities that are available to us with the protocol. I have a number of questions.

What do we need to do to have that mapped and modelled because that would take the politics, the emotions and the other stuff out of the argument? It is hugely important.

The second question is on the Horizon programme. As the British have now said they are going to pull out of Horizon, so the wall is up there. The British are going to use the £14 billion they were putting into Horizon to replace it with something of their own. I am deeply concerned about this from the point of view of both islands and in terms of what we need to do regarding climate change and public health. I am also afraid about the current tightening, in terms of the decisions the British need to make, and that even the £14 billion they say they will ring-fence for their own Horizon-type programme will drop off the table. Where does that leave us and what can we do to reopen that door in order that this is back on the table?