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

I apologise for missing the earlier part of the meeting. I had another committee meeting to attend and I was asking questions in the Dáil Chamber.

I welcome the work IBEC has done on the all-Ireland economy. We had the opportunity to attend a number of events earlier in the year as part of the peace and prosperity campaign. They were very impressive. The organisation got out a message about what has been achieved over the past 25 years, and what more we can do. I welcome the fact that IBEC's research programme is North-South and east-west and focuses on Ireland's international relations as well. It is very important that it encompasses all of that.

Mr. D'Arcy made a comment in regard to Lough Neagh. He said there would be a spotlight on agriculture. I have concerns about the unfair spotlight that is placed on agriculture in this jurisdiction in regard to climate change, emissions and all of that. A lot of the narrative here is a lazy and ill informed. I do not have enough detailed knowledge of the Lough Neagh situation, but it is deplorable to learn how much the lough's water quality has deteriorated. To my knowledge, and I read it in The Irish Newsor another Northern publication, raw sewage is a big contributor to the deterioration in the water quality of Lough Neagh. I read that in some publication. I do not have enough knowledge to know what all the contributing factors are, but I must say that agriculture in this State is a huge and important player on an all-Ireland basis. There have been huge advances in this State over the past 20 years and more in farm facilities and in ensuring agriculture has a productive and sustainable system. We must always bear that in mind. So many people, and I am not talking about IBEC, are negative and throw out ill-informed commentary about agriculture and food production. At the same time, they talk about the need for food security. Food security means food production as well. We have to ensure we protect the food production base.

Mr. D'Arcy mentioned the recent report of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. I did not get a chance to read it, but I am very disappointed to learn, as Mr. D'Arcy has said, that there is no cross-Border development. That assembly represents quite a number of Border counties, where our everyday existence is dependent on us communicating, travelling and working with one another. We should be cognisant of the work done by regional groups in the worst of days. There are groups such as the Irish Central Border Area Network that encompasses some of Cavan and Fermanagh and that central Border area, with the east Border region of Newry, Mourne and Louth, in the Cathaoirleach's home area, as well. In the north west, there is the North West Region Border Group that encompasses Donegal, Derry and Strabane. Those groups have done a lot of very good work over the years. I recall, in my early days in politics, the work of my colleague Senator Niall Blaney's late father, Deputy Harry Blaney, who was a great proponent of cross-Border co-operation, and that of the late Senator Paddy McGowan of Donegal. They were talking about cross-Border development in the darkest of days on this island. On every occasion that we have the chance to talk about the opportunities for more all-Ireland development, we should recall the efforts of those people in very difficult times.

I want to raise a concern that I have mentioned previously. We all want to see the all-Ireland economy grow. There are natural strengths to the Dublin-Belfast line. It will grow, regardless of the economic climate, and that is their good fortune. Thankfully, today in the north west we have the Letterkenny Institute of Technology and the University of Ulster Magee Campus in Derry, which are powerful drivers for economic development in that region. It is good that the north west has those advantages. However in the central Border area, the counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Fermanagh will face particular challenges. I am putting a question. I am sure IBEC has a lot of interaction with some of the major players in economics and business. We have to be mindful of the requirement that we grow all of the Border region as equally as possible. Thankfully, there are huge strengths in my own area in the construction product sector, engineering and agrifood, and we want that to continue. However, we have to be extra conscious that we do not have the advantage of big population bases or of having third level education institutions in the area. There are good colleges of further education that are collaborating with institutes of technology and some of the universities, but we are at a certain disadvantage in that we do not have that scale of population to help development thrive. In the discussions of IBEC's own work or in the research that it is doing, I would like there to be some focus on the need to be mindful of that and to put forward some suggestions as to how the potential of the central Border area could be grown, structured and assisted.

The last thing we want is a complete imbalance on the island. We do not want the central Border area lagging way behind the other areas, and the best of luck to the east coast, north east and north west if they can grow rapidly and deliver more jobs, employment and prosperity to people. We all want to see that going on but we do not want to be left totally behind either. Maybe there has to be some positive discrimination, because at the same time, we are not far from Dublin or Belfast but we do not have our own big population to drive economic development or to attract the third-level institutions. Those are just some random thoughts.

We have discussed the opportunities and challenges many times. The work IBEC does is extremely important at a time when there is much negativity about the Good Friday Agreement. We had the trade unions here last week and they were outlining the deficiencies in the provision of education, health services and social services because we do not have functioning institutions. One of the areas Mr. D'Arcy talked about was the North-South Ministerial Council, which is a huge miss as well across all sectors. Again, so much work could come from those institutions if they were up and running. I compliment the witnesses on their work. It is very important to get that positive message out about the potential to grow the Northern Ireland economy further.