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

I thank the Chair and thank Mr. O'Brien, Ms Gallagher and Mr. D'Arcy for being here. We welcome the opportunity to discuss the report. I was delighted to be at the launch. It is really timely, significant and we can work with it here. I have gone through it several times and considered what it might mean for us. I thank IBEC for this progressive initiative. The importance of the report is it captures and measures some of the dividends of the Good Friday Agreement. We on this committee are acutely aware the agreement has only been partially implemented and full implementation would obviously mean even greater prosperity for everybody living on the island. Using these economic measurements we can project and plan all-island initiatives to enable future growth and prosperity and that is the real value in it. Mr. O'Brien talks about reenergising and evolving the operation of the agreement during its 25th anniversary and I could not agree more. The agreement is a living and breathing document that belongs to everybody on the island and must continually be used to improve the lives of everybody living on the island and indeed the Irish diaspora as well.

The report rightly points out the benefits of integration for "all island planning of projects to implement crucial policies - particularly for physical infrastructure in energy and transport on the island – avoiding duplication [which I agree with], better leveraging assets, reducing costs for consumers." The report also states, again rightly, that "In order to optimise the full potential of the all-island economy a new joined-up [North-South] policy framework should be put in place". I ask our guests to elaborate on that role and the specific actions the Government and parties need to take to establish that framework, because I too believe it is the way forward. I will ask my three questions and our guests can divide them between themselves.

Transport is also really important. The reopening of the western rail corridor is a long-term Sinn Féin policy, as our guests know. As well as meeting transport needs, we see it as a catalyst for sustainable growth and maximising the opportunities along the Atlantic economic corridor. How important do the IBEC representatives think it is to accelerate the delivery of the transport infrastructure while meeting our climate change targets? I note also the report also rightly states we need address the uneven levels of prosperity. As someone who comes from the west and has an interest in the western economic corridor, it is something that needs to be at the forefront of our minds as well.

On education and student mobility across the island, how important do our guests think that is? I ask in the context of hearings we are having at the education committee in a couple of weeks' time around opening up third-level opportunities across the island. The report refers to the "17,000 students [leaving the North] each year to study in Britain" and how only a third of those return home. This presents problems for the labour force in the North and for economic growth there. What do the IBEC representatives see as the economic benefits see as the economic benefits of facilitating and encouraging student mobility across the island and what the knock-on effects would be for labour force planning and indeed for meeting the challenges of the labour shortages across the island?