Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair, Mr. O'Brien and Mr. D'Arcy for being here this morning. Their good counsel is always very welcome. At the outset I concur with their thoughts regarding IBEC's campaign in relation to the Good Friday Agreement. I attended one of the events and it was brilliant so I congratulate IBEC on that endeavour. Mr. O'Brien had quite a bit to say in his presentation. Could he give us a picture of the workshops he spoke about holding vis-á-visthe locations in Northern Ireland and in the Border counties? What does he envisage? Will it be through the counties or just a few appearances? How many locations has he looked at?

He spoke about the new model and that is really welcome. How are the different industries across Northern Ireland such as manufacturing responding to the new model? Have they taken part in the running and the make-up of this new model? What is their feeling about it?

Mr. O'Brien spoke about North-South energy connectivity and I agree with him on that. On the energy side, I do not think we have looked at the whole picture island-wide from the point of view of the ability to carry this talk about offshore wind farms. I do not think we are seeing the bigger picture. From my perspective in the north west, we do not have the network to carry the power. We cannot carry what is there on land, never mind on sea. What is Mr. O'Brien's view on what is needed on North-South connectivity? There is one connection at the moment. Will he give us a picture of what is needed? What will be needed to cater for our energy needs up to 2040?

I agree with Mr. O'Brien on the all-Ireland labour market. I spoke to him on the last occasion about the shift in power from Belfast to mid-Ulster and the manufacturing businesses there that now account for more than 40% of trade in Northern Ireland. That is a fantastic model and I think he is right that it can be grown. What needs to be done to create that extra labour force? There are areas in Belfast and Derry city, and parts of north and west Tyrone, that are planning blackspots. What can be done about that? That is it for now.