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

I thank Professor Todd and Dr. McEvoy for a very interesting opening statement and compliment them on their work. As Deputy Conway-Walsh said, it is always a concern that we do not get to talk to people who feel marginalised. I was surprised to hear Dr. McEvoy mention consultation fatigue. I have often thought there was not enough consultation with the groups they mentioned and I am delighted there has been such widespread consultation. It is very important to get speaking to the different groups.

The witnesses stated in their opening remarks that the process has to be inclusive to ensure disengaged participants, both North and South, will be involved in the process. Over the years, having been involved in various cross-Border programmes and so on, it was always a concern to me that we were not reaching the people for whom the programmes were intended. I have often seen people participating in North-South groups and so on and, knowing some of the people who participate them, I have found they are often better informed, whereas people who have not taken so great an interest in social, economic or political issues may not be engaged. The witnesses' reach to those groups, therefore, is extremely welcome and important.

They said something like 50% of people are not interested in the narrow constitutional issue but they want the overall issues that affect them daily to be front and centre in all deliberations. That is a good starting point and it is extremely important. They said those people have their own voices, values and priorities. It makes eminent sense when we talk about small-scale deliberation, more at the micro level than in a large, macro grouping, carrying out research or putting forward recommendations for a decision. Dr. McEvoy stated that the more we explore, the better, from the point of view of informative discussions.

Professor Todd spoke about Border women complaining about their inability to access healthcare across the Border. As someone who lives near the Border and represents two of the southern Ulster counties, Cavan and Monaghan, I have a reasonable level of knowledge of issues in my neighbouring constituencies north of the Border, where there are particular issues. The witnesses mentioned local councils. When this committee was formed on the previous occasion, the first time the shared island unit made a presentation to this committee, one request I made to it was to use the knowledge and expertise that exists in our local authorities. In fairness, many local authorities North and South, in the darkest days of this island, were working together and trying to ensure the people understood one another. Joint projects were put forward and brought to fruition, at a time when there was very little North-South co-operation or very little east-west co-operation and when the political climate was extremely difficult. Would it be possible to expand on the concerns expressed about the healthcare issue, in particular by women in the Border counties?