Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the Taoiseach as I was in the Chair in the House this morning. I am Chair of the health committee. I welcome the recent announcement of the €50 million investment in the North via the Government's shared island project and the €45 million investment in the Derry campus of Ulster University, which will have a positive impact on the local economy as well as a major impact on cross-Border education in the region. That is in addition to the Government's very welcome announcement of funding for 250 nurse training places in the North. We would all agree that more healthcare graduates across the island is a very positive move. The cross-Border co-operation in services at Altnagelvin Area Hospital demonstrates the benefits when we all work together. Is the Government open to even more cross-Border projects and greater co-operation between the two health services on the island? Each health service faces its own unique challenges. More co-operation could result in greater improvements and delivery for patients if the health services were to work more closely together. I do not think it is a contentious issue. It is certainly not contentious among political parties. There is probably a small bigoted minority that would be opposed to this co-operation but it would be supported by the vast majority on the island of Ireland. It is something that we need to develop. It is certainly something that we as a health committee would like to explore further but that is difficult given the intensity and pressure of the issues that constantly come before us. Co-operating with each other on this small island is something we should all tease out collectively.