Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, I wholeheartedly welcome the progress report given to us by Ms O'Donoghue and commend her, Mr. Duffy and all their colleagues in the shared island unit on the great work done in a very short period of time.

In the first engagement I had with the unit, I emphasised the need to engage with local authorities and highlighted that there was a huge amount of corporate memory, knowledge and experience there. The unit has done that exceptionally well. Local authorities, both at elected and official levels, are very pleased with the engagement. It is adding to the quality of the product and the projects that will be progressed. In her opening remarks, Ms O'Donoghue stated that the broad remit of the shared island unit includes "a commitment to engage with all communities and political traditions to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement." That is exceptionally important and covers so many areas where we all want to see progress.

I very much welcome the fact that substantial funding has provided for the Ulster Canal project. I see that project progress regularly as I go through my constituency. It has great potential for Cavan-Monaghan and the Northern counties, including County Armagh. It follows on from the very successful restoration of the former Ballinamore-Ballyconnell Canal, which is now the Shannon-Erne Waterway, in the early 1990s. That was done at a time when the political dispensation on this island was anything but hospitable or friendly. It was done in a very difficult time and it has been a powerful success for counties Fermanagh, Cavan and Leitrim in particular, and further south as well. I look forward to the Ulster Canal bringing the same benefits to the south of Ulster and all of Ulster. I know the Narrow Water bridge project is one that our colleagues, including the Cathaoirleach, Senator McGreehan and others, have championed. It is great to see that work under way.

Representatives of the All-Island Cancer Research Institute, AICRI, appeared before the committee and were very complimentary of what the funding provided has enabled the institute to do. We very much appreciate that work. When I met some of them individually last week in Queen's University Belfast they were very complimentary of the shared island unit and the funding that has been made available to the institute.

Turning to the assistance that has been given to local authorities to prepare plans through the local authority development funding scheme, I was at the launch of the scheme by the then Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, in Cavan. It was so heartening to see people from all political traditions there. They could not get into the photographs and make announcements quickly enough. The mood and the whole message at the event were that local authorities want more of this funding. It was very heartening to see that. One of the projects mentioned by local authorities in Cavan-Monaghan and some of our neighbouring local authorities north of the Border was on the enterprise side. I think I mentioned previously the difficulties for local authorities in preparing suitable sites to locate enterprise centres. Funding is available through Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the construction of enterprise centres, but the services and suitable infrastructure must be in place. If a particular emphasis can be placed on the possible support for enterprise centres, which are particularly important in the less economically developed areas like the Border counties, both North and South, it would be very advantageous for us going forward.

I have mentioned further education in the past. I believe it is a great enabler. It creates so many opportunities for progression into higher education for people who may leave secondary school without the best leaving certificate results or who have not had the opportunity to complete second level education. I think an all-Ireland dimension to our further education sector would be very beneficial.

I have a few questions. Are the shared island civic fund and the local authority development fund scheme the only two projects with a current spending source that are funded? I understand that most of the shared island funding has to go to capital projects, and I agree with that. Perhaps Ms O'Donoghue can confirm that remains the case. Are sports facilities still excluded from possible shared island funding? Again, what has been achieved is most welcome and we look forward to further progress being made. What has been done in a very short timeframe is an example to other elements of the public service in how to deliver and move projects on much quicker than often happens, unfortunately.