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

I thank Mr. O'Brien and Mr. D'Arcy for being here. I also thank them for their opening statement and the discussion following. I can clearly see where they are going and building on the IBEC For Peace + Prosperity document. I will take the opportunity to say particular thanks to IBEC for the high quality of its leadership on the broad range of issues we have discussed this morning and on which it continues to work as an organisation. It focuses on the all-island economy, takes the two islands into consideration and all of that. It is important to discuss all of that in the context not only of the present challenges we face but also the challenges of the future and our preparation for them beyond the political cycles. That is where IBEC's leadership is valuable. The presentation this morning focuses that and give this committee an opportunity, in the context of our discussions about constitutional future, to consider how we can do those things.

IBEC's For Peace + Prosperity document states that its focus has been on the all-island economy and the strategic investment in growth, employment and prosperity across the island. The organisation has complimented the work of strand 2 of the Good Friday Agreement and, as it states in the document, the North-South co-operation required to develop trade, critical transport, infrastructure, skills, supply chains, the regulatory regimes and the markets in both jurisdictions and the benefits in scale that would be available to an all-island economy.

I will ask several questions. I agree entirely with the point that not enough attention is being paid to those areas of the all-island economy where progress is being made. Our guests correctly identified that the annual goods trade of the all-island economy is close to €10 billion in value. They also said that looking to the future, there are opportunities to grow as a whole island. IBEC's pre-budget submission outlined the business case for a national infrastructure fund. I was glad to hear the witnesses explicitly say that insufficient priority has been given to the all-island aspect of that because without it, we are limiting ourselves in many ways. They probably heard that the Committee on Budgetary Oversight discussed the issue yesterday and the possibility of an investment fund over the next few years. Both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform were before that committee. It is timely for IBEC to put the issue front and centre, not only for the shared island unit but overall in terms of the national development plan. We need better joined-up thinking.

It is a concern, as IBEC points out in its document, that the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, estimates that almost €20 billion in additional capital spending will be needed between 2024 and 2030 to protect the existing ambition within the national development plan. That has to be named and a grip of it must be taken. That reality must be dealt with. IBEC has identified the need for at least an additional €10 billion on top of that to reflect the growing demands for investment in areas such as net zero, which is an issue we will talk about further as the meeting goes on.

I am sharing my time with Mickey Brady MP. The last paragraph in IBEC's paper is of urgent interest given the DUP boycott of the North's Executive and Assembly has created a political and administrative void, which has the potential to further damage the North's economy and the all-island economy. Perhaps we could speak to that stalemate for a moment. In the wider context, what measures and which agencies should be involved in developing the opportunities that present to us? I know the witnesses have identified some of them this morning.

A section of IBEC's paper deals with developing the macroeconomic model, which I am very excited about and have been for some time. I ask for a better idea of the timeline in that respect and where it is at. As the witnesses have said and we have said at this committee in the past, that model is absolutely critical to taking the bias out of how things are presented. It would give us invaluable information. I commend what IBEC has said. Even though it is leading on this issue with the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, it is not owned by IBEC. It would be enormously valuable to all political parties and higher educational institutes, nationally and internationally, for us to be able to dig deeper and make the right decisions. I thank IBEC for that. Perhaps our guests would speak to the couple of points I have mentioned. I think Mickey Brady MP is still in the meeting so he will be able to share my time.