Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 9 February 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement

The Economic and Social Benefits of the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement: IBEC

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

I acknowledge IBEC funding the macroeconomic model, which will be a game changer.

I also acknowledge the work being done by the ESRI. I cannot wait for the first lot of that work to come out because we will then be able to measure things properly and target things in a way that we have never done before. I appreciate the clarification because I did think that the work was being funded by the shared island unit. Notwithstanding that, there is plenty of room for everybody to get involved once we have the information and a model, which I think will serve all of us in a really good way. The Atlantic Technological University presents us with a really good opportunity to remedy regional disparity and create a link with the Magee Campus.

A bit like the Good Friday Agreement, implementation is key. Professor Monica McWilliams, I think, made the point a few weeks ago about us not having an implementation plan to make sure all of the elements are implemented. There is lots of good work being done, including by the people present. NESC has produced a comprehensive report which contains a lot of commonalities in terms of what needs to be done. The challenge for us all is how we implement that in a co-ordinated way and measure the outcomes, which will show any real success.

One of the important points that NESC made was that most administrations could place a greater focus on the interoperable statistical data and co-operation between the CSO and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, NISRA, for sectors that are important when it comes to all-island co-operation or comparison, including environment, health and trade. How important is that?

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.