Mr. Rob Power:

On the impact since Brexit, there was a particular piece of work advocating for the Belfast-Dublin economic corridor. At the time, it was agreed that was a very worthwhile project but it was essentially shelved by the secretariat because of Brexit and the uncertainty it brought with it. There is a lot that could be beneficial to the regional assemblies in terms of capacity building. There is a lot of work that the regional assemblies have shown they are more than capable of taking on but that would involve additional capacity and supports for the assemblies. On ERDF funding, we have a three-tier structure in terms of planning. We have three regional assemblies. We only have two funding structures, which do not include the Deputy's regional assembly, which is also our own, the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly. With regard to ERDF funding, a lot of the paperwork and so on is signed off by the Southern Regional Assembly for Louth and other counties in the region. It is a question of providing that parity and equality between the three. As can be seen here today, there is great collaboration between the three assemblies but collaboration is not the same as accountability. We should have that accountability in the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly.