Mr. Michael D'Arcy:

I certainly have a couple to add. I would also like to highlight the Good Friday Agreement explainer within the report, with which I helped. Reducing it to the small scale it is was quite a challenge. It is quite important, however, because as a general comment, I do not think there is sufficient understanding and awareness out there of the agreement and what it actually contains and means, both North and South, particularly what it says about being three-stranded and about reconciliation. The word "action" is used. All those things like guarantees, equality, etc., and all those principles that matter in our own society are very much reflected in the agreement. That is all that explainer was trying to bring out. Having that in an economic document is really important because it shows the connectivity of the two in a very tangible way, which is why I back up what Ms Gallagher said in terms of the value of members using it themselves both as an explanatory tool for the economic aspect and the extent of the agreement itself.

Picking up on the point about investment and the protocol, I cannot remember the exact wording, but Article 11 refers to protecting North-South co-operation. It lists a number of sectors, for example, energy and higher education, but almost no attention is given to data and what Article 11 means in practice in that regard. If this committee is working on how we can proceed, it must consider what protecting those conditions means in practice in what is a different environment. A new labour market environment, a new corporate tax environment and a new climate change and energy environment are touched on and built upon in Article 11.

Relationships have always been important in this context. As those of us around the table who were there at the time will recall, there were few relationships in 1998. The situation is much better now. Recent surveys by The Irish Timesand so on have highlighted that there is still much more work to be done.

North-South bodies were mentioned. Just thinking about that now, perhaps the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement is not to wait for a North-South body or regulatory authorities to meet. Perhaps there should instead be a requirement for all organisations with a remit that touches upon the island to meet their counterparts once per year to exchange views and observations and create a greater matrix of awareness, so to speak, so that people can pick up the phone if a problem arises. Politicians know how important personal relationships and contacts are in making things happen when necessary.

This is just my personal contribution to the committee's thinking on this matter. The committee has a part to play, given that it covers many agencies, organisations, etc. Rather than waiting for a formal political agreement, my suggestion might be helpful.