Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the representatives of the North West Region Cross Border Group, Councillor Paul Canning, chairman, Councillor Hugh Hastings, vice chairman, Ms Carol Margey, manager. The North West Region Cross Border Group is comprised of 22 elected representatives as well as the chief executives and county managers of the five local authorities, Derry City Council, Donegal County Council, Limavady Borough Council, Magherafelt District Council and Strabane District Council. The organisation recognises that there are many issues which impact on people on both sides of the Border and that working together can help to achieve greater success in addressing those issues. We look forward to exploring cross-Border initiatives to develop and strengthen the local economy and to enhance the socio-economic position of the north-west region.
I advise the witnesses that, by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to this committee. If they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given. They are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. Members are reminded of the long-standing ruling of the Chair to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or any official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

Councillor Paul Canning:

I will now call on Ms Carol Margey who will make the presentation.

Ms Carol Margey:

I thank the Chairman and the committee members for inviting us to attend today. We look forward to discussing these issues with members and building on the valuable communication we have had to date with the committee.

Our representatives are Councillor Paul Canning from Donegal County Council who is the chairman, Councillor Hugh Hastings from Derry City Council and I am the manager of the group.

The group currently represents the five council areas of Derry City Council, Donegal County Council, Strabane District Council, Limavady Borough Council and Magherafelt District Council, although this representation will change with the restructuring in the North. These councils represent a population of approximately 400,000 people. Our largest urban areas are Derry-Londonderry, Limavady, Strabane, Magherafelt and Letterkenny. The group has a mission to promote cross-Border economic development which benefits all the people of the cross-Border region.

The group was established in 1976 and the board consists of 22 elected members and is cross-party and cross-Border. We are currently delivering €22 million in INTERREG IVA-funded projects.

Councillor Paul Canning:

I welcome this opportunity to speak to this important committee. The North West Gateway Initiative is hugely important to the future of the north west. Last May, the North West Region Cross Border Group was invited to submit a response to the north-west gateway initiative consultation. We are here today to advise the committee of our response which was endorsed by all member councils and the wider stakeholder group. We were asked four questions: How far have the original objectives been advanced? To what extent has the co-operation become an integral part of the work of local government bodies and Departments? What are the north-west gateway future priorities? What is the most appropriate framework to pursue those priorities?

On the question of how far the original projects have been advanced, we agreed that some progress had been made, examples being the radiotherapy unit at Altnagelvin, the infrastructure at Eglinton Airport. However, at a number of levels the initiatives have not been delivered. Much remains to be done to fully develop the extension of the north-west gateway initiative and the implementation of its objectives. On the question of to what extent has the co-operation become an integral part of the work of local government bodies and Departments, progress between the Departments has been positive and should be commended. However, the extent of the co-operation is unclear to those working at local authority level. I refer to strong collaboration at local authority level, particularly through PEACE and INTERREG projects.

The North West Gateway Initiative list of future priorities include connectivity, access and infrastructure, which are vital to the north west region, enterprise, employment and education, health, community and quality living environment. The recommended most appropriate framework to pursue these priorities are a strategic development framework document agreed by the two governments to clarify the objectives for the region; an interdepartmental steering group to plan, oversee and drive the implementation; and ongoing consultation on the framework within the region, thus ensuring ownership and buy-in from the regional agencies and the stakeholders.

Councillor Hugh Hastings:

It is a pleasure for me to be here today. The north west is the most peripheral area in respect of Dublin, Belfast and the mainland of the UK. One of the difficulties for us is that even though we have the will to work and are willing to work, we tend not to see the amount of infrastructure and money put into other parts of Northern Ireland in particular permeating down to us. It is not secret and it is fair to say that the north west is probably one of the most deprived areas when it comes to investment and infrastructure.

In terms of the north west as a gateway, we have had the gateway for the past seven years. It has delivered in some areas. It delivered in respect of the institute of technology in Letterkenny and the science park at Fort George and it delivered to some extent in respect of Altnagelvin. We are looking forward to the completion of the Altnagelvin radiotherapy unit. The Good Friday Agreement is only a paper exercise if we do not embrace the spirit of it. We would like to see a proper assessment of the needs of the north west. When I talk about the north west, I am talking about the North West Gateway Initiative and the north west corridor. We have concerns about the A5 to which the Irish Government has made a commitment and which we hope will go ahead. On a recent visit to Stormont, we met with Danny Kennedy, MLA, who told us that it had been delayed but not postponed. Obviously, there are things that need to be done and one must follow legal rules in respect of one's country to ensure that one get to a point of starting. Our expectation is that the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly will come up trumps and ensure that we have a road which will give us access in terms of a greater economic input to our area.

I do not want to dwell too long because I understand the members have received our submission and will have the opportunity to read through it. The most important thing for us is that the committee sees the way forward to ensuring that the north west is given the same priority as Dublin, Galway or Limerick and that the committee sees its way to investing in our area. I will give an example where there were 1,000 applicants for one job advertised. This is an area where people want to work. I told Mr. Canning last night that when one creates a void and the void is unemployment, it is a serious matter because something comes about to fill the void and so one gets anti-social behaviour or extreme activity which then demotes the area and people say they cannot go there. The main issues for us are the A5, the railway link with Belfast, the opportunity for the railway to move forward, the A6 towards Belfast and the corridor road from Letterkenny straight into the city. The road there is not bad but it needs to go on through and bring with it some industry. We came up the A5 last night and we have seen the amount of traffic on it. It is no longer fit for purpose and it is very important that we get the opportunity to complete the process that has been set in motion. From that perspective, we want the members of this committee to be our champions in terms of driving this forward and allowing us as councillors and representatives of the north west to see that our young people are involved in worthwhile activity including worthwhile economic activity, do not see themselves as extremists and do not join extreme organisations. We want the committee to be a champion for us.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank Councillor Hastings, Ms Margey and Councillor Canning for an excellent presentation. I now invite questions from members.

Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The witnesses are all very welcome. It is very interesting to hear what they have to say. As somebody from Monaghan, I know that we have similar issues on the Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh borders. I am very interested in how the witnesses have come together as councillors in the north west because I would like to see the same level of interaction between ourselves. It seems to be further advanced in the north west but the area still has the problems in terms of connectivity between Lifford, Letterkenny and Strabane and between Strabane and Derry. What have been the major roadblocks because the witnesses are very well organised as councils? What have been the major problems in terms of getting co-operation between road services in Northern Ireland and the county council in Donegal or other organisations to ensure that the peace dividend does exist for ordinary people and that we can get better co-operation between our respective jurisdictions in terms of road infrastructure, health care or education provision to ensure that ordinary people's lives are improved by the process? Where do the real problems exist? Is it a case of lack of willpower at government in both the UK and the Northern Ireland Assembly and here? What are the main blocks to further integration?

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I will take three speakers at a time.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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I thank the deputation for its presentation. It is good to hear from it. We heard submissions here about the A5 in July. The committee is active in pursuing that with the Government. I know it is not directly part of the presentation today.

My questions are similar to those of Deputy Conlan. What have been the blockages? In the past five or six years during the recession in the South, attention has probably been drawn away from cross-Border issues and co-operation and there has been a focus on the 26 counties rather than on the all-island approach. I think this has been detrimental to Donegal and the entire region. We must try to get that back on track and get the Government to focus more on the Border areas.

The witnesses say that the objectives have not been delivered. Is there is a list of other objectives that are outstanding? Could the witnesses expand on those in terms of the gateway initiative? How will the reorganisation of the councils in the six counties affect the work of the cross-Border group? Will it expand the area? The presentation stated that the extent of co-operation was unclear to those working at local authority level. What is the group doing to tackle that as well because it is important across all the councils to make sure that people are fully aware of what is happening in terms of co-operation? I have no doubt that the committee will be quite happy to do whatever it can to raise awareness and get the strategic framework accepted and implemented both North and South and at Government level here in the South.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I invite Mr. Pat Doherty to make his contribution.

Mr. Pat Doherty:

I thank the witnesses for their presentation, on which I have three questions. In respect of the A5, given that the Northern Executive has stated it would ring-fence the money for when the project would be in a position to come online and that the Irish Government has stated it will revisit the question of the funding in 2015, what dialogue has the North West Region Cross Border Group had with both the Executive and the Irish Government about their commitment to the delivery of the A5? As for the Riverine project, that is, the proposed footbridge between Lifford and Strabane, I have been informed by the Special European Union Programmes Body that it could be revisited under the shared spaces heading, although the submissions must be lodged by both Strabane and Donegal councils by the spring of next year. Have the witnesses an update on the status of this proposal? Specifically in respect of the new super councils and the amalgamation of Derry and Strabane councils in particular, what impact will this have on the group's work in the future?

Councillor Paul Canning:

I thank members for the questions and will respond first to Deputy Conlan. As to where we think the failure lies, first, everyone is aware of the major lack of investment across the entire country. However, the information that comes down from this committee towards the likes of the North West Region Cross Border Group is shady at times. We do not know what actually is happening and one hears a lot of fragmented statements because one is working with two Governments. We wish to focus on a channelled direct route via this committee in respect of what it is implementing and doing. This information can be fed back to us as a group in order that we can do the dividing at our level. The cross-Border group is a mixture of councillors from Donegal, Derry, Strabane, Limavady and Magherafelt councils. It is cross-party and cross-Border and we then are able to divide that. We can see a focus and can bring that focus. We also have no problem with reverting to the joint committee and letting members know where we find things are going wrong. Basically, when we conducted the consultation, we received feedback from everybody and the sort of line was that people did not know what was happening. Moreover, if one mentioned this delegation was coming before the joint committee, the response was we would only be wasting our time. We want to come back with a focus and a strategic framework from which to work. Basically, we need such a document and then we will know where we are going and how we are to go forward. There also is low investment at present with poor infrastructure in place, including poor broadband but that will come. However, we must have a focus on the direction in which we are going.

This point basically ties into the other questions regarding the make-up of the councils and the present position with regard to the new councils. At present, we are in a transient state and in fairness to Donegal County Council, we have been working with the areas already. As it had been broken down into five or six areas anyway, our structures might be ahead of the rest of the country with regard to the Putting People First document and consequently we are okay on that aspect. I will let Councillor Hastings comment regarding the position in Derry and Strabane.

Councillor Hugh Hastings:

As for the merger of Derry and Strabane councils, obviously, a lot of work has been done and much work has been undertaken over the past year. At present we are in shadow, as it is called, but we are not really a shadow. We have already identified each of the areas in which we will be working. We have looked at the staffing and resources and at present, we are considering the transformation of the council in terms of where we wish to be by April 2015, because in March, as the Chairman and Mr. Pat Doherty are aware, the other councils will cease to be. The existing councils are Derry City Council and Strabane District Council. As for the North Wwest Gateway Initiative and the North West Region Cross Border Group, the group now is made up mainly from Strabane and Derry. We have moved forward and while we still will deliver parts of the programme in Limavady and Magherafelt, the main thrust in the future will be from the new Derry City and Strabane District Council. From that perspective, there is a ready identification there. There will always be stresses when one is changing things and of course, we are working towards that. I believe there is a willingness within the councillor group and across the board to see an outcome because we believe we have been elected by the people and are there to serve them and that the people are not there to serve. I believe this attitude is prevalent.

In respect of Deputy Conlan's question regarding the blocks, after this meeting all the joint committee members will have to hand a copy of the document our group has constructed. We are asking them, as a committee, to support the way forward in respect of the gateway. The gateway undoubtedly did deliver some things. As I stated previously, it delivered in respect of the Letterkenny Institute of Technology compound, as well as on the science park and several other items. However, it has not had the impact we would have expected. I should note that last week, we attended the launch of the new science park in Fort George and members will be pleased to learn that a target that was set for 2017 has been achieved or in other words, 70% of all the space within the science park has been taken up and other organisations or businesses are waiting to become part of the science park.

As for relationships within Derry City and Strabane District Council and of course Donegal County Council, relationships always have been very good. We have a common purpose, which is to develop the north west. It does not matter from what part of the north west one comes as we probably perceive Derry city as the city of the north west and as a central hub of activity. As one develops one's hub, that also helps the outlying areas. However, we of course would not have been able to have the science park without Letterkenny Institute of Technology's new compound. It would not have been a runner because that puts in place the cross-Border element. This project constituted a coming together and we would be happy to state the North West Regional College, Magee College and Letterkenny Institute of Technology actually work in tandem to develop strategies for the future and the way forward for us. As for what needs to be done, we must revisit the gateway strategy that we have penned and constructed. There is an opportunity for members to consider it after we have left but as our chairman, Councillor Canning stated, we would like the joint committee to invite us back after the meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council to then give us an opportunity to ascertain how our proposals lie with it.

Ms Carol Margey:

I will touch on the question about blockages and wider objectives.

The North West Gateway Initiative initially sought to provide a non-statutory framework for development for the north west. As this was never provided, it is very difficult to measure what was put in place or the level of engagement between Departments. Communications between the committee and us, and between the North-South Ministerial Council secretariat and us have improved over the past year, and this has led to a great feeling of positivity in the region, which we have disseminated to the councils. We appreciate the support. Without a strategic framework, it is difficult to know what the wider objectives were other than to collaborate on certain areas.

On the super council issue, we have moved within the group and Derry City, Strabane District and Donegal County Councils will come together because Limavady and Magherafelt will no longer exist as an entity. We have already taken steps to implement the structure. They are still associate members and for the purposes of funding we will see out the funding with them. We will keep the good, strong relationships we have with certain members until they get organised and we can establish more formalised relationships again. It is a time of great change in the North and South and it is very important for us that the north-west gateway initiative is at the top of the agenda because with all the change we could lose the momentum behind it, which we do not want to happen.

The PEACE and INTERREG programmes have just gone to the European Commission for signing off. After that has been done, we will go into the full programme activity, which will include preparing pipeline projects. The Special EU Programmes Body, SEUPB, will be seeking pipeline projects to be developed by the partners. One will be a lead partner, possibly Donegal County Council or Strabane-Derry district council, as it will become. A business case will be generated and submitted through the shared spaces part of the programme for funding. It would be a particularly strong project in terms of shared space.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Councillor Canning and this colleagues and thank them for their presentation. Who is responsible for the North West Gateway Initiative consultation? Is it a Government Department, North and South, or the North-South Ministerial Council? If it is a Government Department, maybe it would be worthwhile for us to ask the relevant officials to come before the committee and we could question them on their commitment, how soon the consultation process will end and what its clear objective is. The message I got from the presentation was that the smaller projects funded through PEACE and INTERREG have been successful. In my constituency, Cavan-Monaghan, many worthwhile projects have been funded through those initiatives since the mid-1990s, driven by local statutory organisations and community groups.

The A5 is obviously the major deficit regarding access for the north west. If I were in that region I would highlight it because we all know the value of a good road network. When one is driving to Letterkenny, going through Counties Tyrone and Donegal is a very slow progress. When we met the delegates’ colleagues in Derry, we spoke about the major strengths in education in the north west due to further education colleges including Institute of Technology Sligo, ITS, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, LYIT, and Magee College. When I asked whether the educational resources on both sides of the Border would be maximised in respect of job creation, I was very glad to hear Councillor Hastings mention the major role LYIT had played in the development of the science park. It is one area the north west should highlight as a major positive point regarding the potential to create jobs and develop the economy. That does not take away from the challenges there are in other areas, such as road access, which is critical.

Ms Carol Margey:

The joint chairmen of the north-west gateway initiative wrote to a number of stakeholders and we undertook to collate the responses. The joint chairmen would be drawn from the two parent Departments, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the South and the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, OFMDFM, in the North.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the delegates for their presentation. For those of us who live in and represent the north west it is frustrating to look at a map showing the motorways going from Dublin to Belfast, Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. There are rail and air connections to most of those locations. However, there are no connections – rail, motorway or air – linking the fourth largest city on the island to Dublin. There is no motorway or direct rail link from Belfast, although there is what I call a "tourist link" between Derry and Belfast. There have been some successes in the INTERREG programmes. The news about the North West Regional Science Park, Fort George and LYIT is welcome and there seems to be good interaction between Magee Campus and LYIT. The delegates' group is cross-party and cross-council and is probably the best forum for representing the voice of those people. What can it do to lead the way in the big picture and remedy the clear failure to develop equality in infrastructure in the north west? What is the vision of the group to lead the charge, bring everybody together and make it happen?

There have been some positive developments in tourism. The Wild Atlantic Way has made an impact. Derry was the city of culture and a number of events there put a good, positive focus on it, including the Giant’s Causeway. What can be done to develop a co-ordinated, cross-Border tourism initiative? What is the vision for leading it?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Councillor Canning and Ms Margey from Donegal, and Councillor Hastings. It is a pleasure to see them and to have met them yesterday evening. In the north-west cross-Border group, Donegal is the main stakeholder in the Republic, and has suffered alongside the North over many years due to the lack of joined-up political thinking between the Six Counties and the Border counties. Unfortunately, it has led to an infrastructural and economic deficit in the north west. Deputy Mac Lochlainn referred to the fact that we have no motorway or train line. Unfortunately, the timing of the St. Andrews Agreement in 2006 and the agreement that came with it to fund the A5 happened at the moment when finances on both sides of the Border went downhill. Before that, when motorways were being built across the rest of the country, the joined-up political thinking and co-operation to build the A5 did not exist. County Donegal also suffered due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It is all the more important that, now that things have stabilised and much progress have been made, the work of groups such as the north-west region cross-Border group leads to joined-up thinking between the North and South. Ms Margey outlined earlier that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the South and OFMDFM in the North are responsible for driving it.

In terms of the North West Gateway Initiative and making it happen - as opposed to the projects the North West Region Cross Border Group would lead, which are SEUPB funded, and which give the group a leadership role - and in terms of education and enterprise, connectivity, and health and community, which are strands of the gateway initiative, who is responsible for driving these matters at a political end? Is it happening at both the northern end and the southern end? It appears from the report, for which the committee is thankful, that there is a lack of drive at an executive level to make the concept underpinning the gateway initiative a reality. How do we achieve that?

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome chairman, Councillor Paul Canning and vice chairman, Councillor Hugh Hastings and Ms Carol Margey, manager. The cross-Border regions, particularly those along the western areas of the island, faced many economic difficulties. It is relentlessly on our agenda. The committee has to exert pressure on both governments to get action. The mission to promote cross-Border economic development for the benefit of the 400,000 people in the region is even more important today as our economies recover from the recession. We must ensure that the people of the Border areas share in that economic recovery. It emerges from the group's presentation that there is strong collaboration at local authority level but the extent of commitment and co-operation between government Departments, North and South, is much less evident. The group's conclusions reflect a lessening of the political commitment by both governments in recent years to cross-Border co-operation and to the economic welfare of the communities along the Border areas. Councillor Canning lists, as a first priority, connectivity, access and infrastructure. This committee has championed the case for proceeding urgently with the upgrading of the N2 road from Clontibret to the Border and proceeding urgently with the upgrade of the A5 road and the N14 from Letterkenny to Lifford. This is the most important infrastructure investment to open up the Border areas and the north west for trade and investment. Yet, it has disappeared off the political radar. I encourage the group to campaign even more intensely for the investment to proceed and to join with the other cross-Border networks, Irish Central Border Area Network Limited, ICBAN and East Border Region. In so doing, the entire Border area will benefit.

I fully support the three conclusions set out by Councillor Hastings. In particular, the committee should support a renewed focus on the development of the Border area. Through the group's manager, Ms Carol Margey, the group is actively participating in a more formalised approach to the development of the entire region through the Border development's own corridor concept. I commend its initiative in hosting a joint conference on 2 October with the central Border network and East Border Region - at this time of great change in local authorities - to focus on more collaboration in the interest of the economic welfare of the 1 million people living in those areas. It is past time to put cross-Border co-operation and the economic regeneration of the Border areas back on the political radar of both governments, and their respective Departments, and the North-South Ministerial Council. I support Deputy Smith's call to hear from the relevant government officials on both sides. That is a sound proposal. I ask the Chairman and clerk to the committee to arrange for this. Further to the meeting with the secretariat of the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh - the committee pushed this at the meeting - it must be asked was it listening to our concerns? Will the secretariat impress on the North-South Ministerial Council how important the committee regards these issues?

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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It was listening but the plenary session was postponed and the meeting has now been rearranged. I appreciate your contribution.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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The committee would want to ensure that it listens to what is being said. The committee pointed out what Deputy Mac Lochlainn said. I presented a map of the entire country and showed how barren is the road network to the north west area. The rest of the country is well served with roads. It is denying the human rights of the people in the north west that development of this road has not continued. When the committee visits the narrow water bridge and goes to County Monaghan it should meet with the county engineer in Monaghan. That part of the road is part of his mandate. It would be a good idea to meet him and get his views on it.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Thank you. That is very helpful. We are endeavouring to set up a meeting with the Monaghan County Council and other stakeholders as well.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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The county engineer is the key person.

Councillor Paul Canning:

I welcome the comments, but regarding who should be the driver and from where it should be driven people always say local politics start from the bottom up. We know our priorities and have listed them but we can only take them so far. It seems to break down at that point. If we had a link to the committee and the committee was able to tell us how far it was advancing the matter, that information could be fed back to us. We would like to leave today with a commitment that a framework will be put in place to pursue the priorities we have identified today. We can work from that. We have a goal to achieve. If we had that as a starting point, we can then add to it at a local level. Currently, we take it to one level. We have an outstanding and we have delivered on projects. We have a good working group that is working for the benefit of the north west. However, we go as far as Omagh and we get stuck. We want to take it further and we want a light back from the committee. I congratulate the chair on his new position and I would like this to be an item that he pursues for us.

Ms Carol Margey:

In terms of our vision for the future, we have three areas on which we are working. These include funding, regional development and lobbying. We see raising awareness, improving communication and providing leadership at a regional level as being our vision for the future. However, the development of the region will need a multi-layered approach as referred to by our chairman. We feel we have our house in order. There is a lot of work being carried out at the moment by the councils in terms of new structures and putting structures in place to enable this work to continue more efficiently and effectively. That multi-layered approach requires dedicated people in the departments - who work with a steering group or as part of the North West Gateway Initiative - who we can reach out to and say we need some help in terms of policy development and funding. We also need to know how far the committee has been able to advance a particular matter since we last communicated with it. We need an eco-system where we have ongoing communication between the layers involved.

Councillor Hugh Hastings:

It has been an experience coming here. This is my first time here. I hope it has been worthwhile. We deserve development and the support of all members of the committee across the political spectrum.

We will do our best to ensure there is co-operation across all the parties in the new councils in Strabane and Donegal and build a coterminous in terms of the way we move forward. It will be the same for peace and rural development. Rural development is very important and it played an important role in the past five years in rural Strabane, Derry, Omagh and Limavady. There is a level of co-operation and a will to win and succeed. We need the people above us to start thinking in that way as well. Our vision is for a fully engaged workforce in the north west. We expect a quality of life right across the board. We would like this committee as our champions to champion our pursuit of developing the north west region. In five years time or in two years time, I hope when we look again at the situation we will be able to say that we have made progress on the roads.

For the information of the committee, we recently met and were well received by Mr. Tommie Kennedy. We had people from across the areas the A5 will cover, including County Monaghan. Mr. Kennedy outlined his commitment and told us the money is ringfenced for this project. I am smiling because obviously money never stays in one place for very long. It was not an unwillingness on his part to proceed but he has to await the outcome of the judicial review and obviously he has to listen to what the courts are saying. We hope the project will move forward in the short term.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Chairman, I am trying to be helpful, but can we take a formal decision that we ask the relevant officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to come to the committee meetings. I do not think officials from any of the Departments in Stormont have come to our meetings but we should start with our officials.

The presentations made by our three visitors have been very good. I can hear the absolute frustration in Councillor Paul Canning's voice about the delay in getting things done. The only way we can help is to bring the relevant officials before the committee and we pose the question and put forward proposals. Obviously we can write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, requesting his support for the project as well.

Is there a timeframe for when the consultation process is due to finish?

Ms Carol Margey:

The consultation finished in May and we have submitted our submission to the consultation. The plenary was due to happen in July but unfortunately that was cancelled.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Is that the plenary of the North-South Ministerial Council?

Ms Carol Margey:

Yes. Our submission was put into a report that headed up the report. It captured the views of so many stakeholder and the council but because the plenary hearing was cancelled it never made its way to there. We hope the plenary that has now been organised for the first week of October will go ahead and our submission will be made to it. We have copies of it for distribution to members at the end of the meeting.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Chairman, could we include in our letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade that we hope he will be able to get this issue included on the agenda of the next plenary of the next North-South Ministerial Council this particular issue.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The plenary is on next week and we will try to do so.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Could we make a suggestion to the Minister for Foreign and Trade to try to have this particular subject on the agenda? I think this should be done today as the meeting is taken place very shortly and the agenda will be set sooner rather than later.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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We will try to get this matter on the agenda.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I think we should.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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It should be sent to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. We should meet the officials from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport also. It is a very good idea to get the officials to come to the committee meetings on the A5 and N14 Letterkenny-Lifford road. The Chairman has written a very good letter. We are discussing this proposed road for more than two years. We are not getting anywhere.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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We will take those points on board and we will invite the relevant officials to attend our meeting as quickly as possible.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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Through the Chair, may I ask Mr. Doherty, MLA, how he thinks we will get the momentum in the north west. It is a disgrace

Mr. Pat Doherty:

It would be good if the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, made a presentation to us. If members remember the last presentation, Mr. Danny McSorley who is the chief executive of Omagh and Strabane district councils said that all of the technical and environmental issues will be addressed. From all my dealings with the road service that is the case. The key point is the money. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, has to give us some sense of what the Government will do in terms of revisiting the finances in 2015. That is the key.

Some of the Unionist parties in the Northern Executive are not terribly committed to it. It is only because of the strength of the SDLP and Sinn Féin on the Executive that the money has been ringfenced. We should be mindful of that. Mr. Danny Kennedy, MLA, is the Northern Minister concerned but he cannot speak against it because it is an Executive decision and not his decision. One must remember that his former party Leader was very much against the A5 road. One must watch that all the time. The collective position is that the money is ringfenced. If the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, could give some sense of when the Government money would come forward, then one could have a sense of when it would happen. All of the engineers say they will be ready to go through the public inquiry and consultation process at the start of 2016.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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We asked at previous meeting about out upcoming budget so that we can get €1.5 million from Monaghan County Council to decide definitely on the format of the road from Clontibret to Aughnacloy. We have been listening to witnesses pleading with us for the development of the road. We asked that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform would dedicate €1.5 million for it in the forthcoming budget.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The committee will write to the Minister for Foreign and Trade and seek an update on the A5 to see exactly where we are. We can push from there.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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What about the €1.5 million from Monaghan Country Council?

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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That will be included in the update.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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It is appalling.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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We will write to the relevant officials today or tomorrow.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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It is insulting to all of the people in County Donegal and the north west.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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May I suggest that we might write to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport because it is an allocation within the NRA parcel of funding that the €1.5 million is required to develop the preferred route. We should write to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, asking him to make a specific allocation to the NRA in respect of that route.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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The representative of the NRA was at that secretariat meeting and he is only bursting to be building the roads. Nothing is happening. It has a very low priority.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I am not a member of this committee. I endorse Deputy Smith's suggestion on having a session to follow on from a meeting dealing with the progress of the North West Gateway Initiate with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who are responsible for driving the project from the Republic.

I also support the suggestion an invitation would issue to representatives from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to see whether they would be interested in presenting to us because it needs both governments to do it and flows on from the Good Friday Agreement, which this committee in this Parliament is responsible for overseeing. In light of that, I do not think it would be inappropriate to invite them to come down to give either their views separately or with their departmental officials. If it is to work, it requires the co-operation, goodwill and faith of both governments to drive it. It behoves this committee to assess whether this is working and to dig into that to see whether we can drive it and assist the work the North West Region Cross Border Group can do in respect of that. As I am not a member of the committee, I know it is a matter for committee members to decide. I endorse Deputy Smith's proposal.

We were discussing the A5. The Irish Government's commitment will be important and the financial commitment post-2015 is important. Any more clarity we can get on that would be very useful. The Northern Ireland Executive has a remit in terms of the funding from Westminster but it goes back as far as the St. Andrews Agreement where it was ring-fenced from that point in time. It was agreed that it would be allocated specifically towards that road. I know the unfortunate planning situation has delayed it. After the previous planning permission was granted and before it was knocked down in court, a decision was made to go ahead with the ring-fenced money from Westminster to do two sections of the road. A timeline was put on that money, which was being drawn down last year and this year. My understanding is that this money is now being drawn down for the other projects even though it was ring fenced for the road. It is a Northern Ireland Executive set-up but a crucial factor in respect of beginning the construction of this road is what the arrangements are regarding how the money which was meant for the road and was spent last year and on other projects this year will be put back to commence construction of the road. I am not sure whether Mr. Doherty would have an update on that but I see that as being particularly crucial in terms of the road actually getting underway.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Like Deputy McConalogue, I am not a committee member so I thank the Chairman for letting me a contribution. An excellent and constructive proposal was made by Ms Margey about dedicated Executive officers and representatives of the Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister linking directly with the steering group of the North West Region Cross Border Group. I urge the committee to write to the two Departments and the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to ask them to provide a direct link and dedicated officers to a steering group so that the North West Region Cross Border Group could be lead on these issues. Everybody politically in the north-west region is committed to this project and has been fighting for it but I really see the North West Region Cross Border Group as the ideally placed conduit for driving this, which is why I asked the questions. We all have a job to do here in this Parliament and the North and so on but if as Ms Margey proposes, we had conduits from Departments dedicated to liaising and keeping the information flow going, that could be helpful. I am suggesting that the committee might write to the governments and endorse the proposal.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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I would like to put on the record that we are about the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. As Councillor Hastings said, it is only paper if it is not happening. North-South development is part of it. It is a farce. I have been sitting here through many meetings. The clerk would say that we have been at this same tune for a while and have made no progress. The money for Narrow Water Bridge has gone to the Drogheda viaduct or something else. The money for the road has gone somewhere else. Looking at it as a business project, it is pathetic and there is something wrong. It is falling between stones. We are about the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. I am embarrassed at this stage that all the county councillors from Donegal and Tyrone and county managers have come here and we have not delivered.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Would our guests like to add anything?

Councillor Paul Canning:

I thank all the contributors. We have the conclusion and the report on the actual consultation so we will give everybody a copy of it. I thank the committee for its time this morning. I hope this stays on the agenda and that the point made by Deputy Mac Lochlainn is taken on board to get a link towards our group and that we are allowed to drive it.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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From what I am hearing, the committee will invite the relevant officials in from all Departments and will write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade seeking an update on the North West Gateway Initiative. We will also raise it with the North South Ministerial Council. I will be meeting with the southern joint secretary in the coming weeks and will raise it with him.

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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What about the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport? No Minister has been here to talk to us about the thing.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I also think that the gateway initiative needs to be re-explored. Councillor Hastings spoke about the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, a point Senator White agreed with. We will do what we can to raise these issues. The A5 has been raised at this meeting and Senator White and many other members have been very active in raising the issue. As Chairman, I will pursue this issue to see what is happening. I have a deep knowledge of the north west. I come from north Roscommon and represent Roscommon-Leitrim. I have been in every town and village in Northern Ireland and Donegal so I have a deep knowledge of the north west and the A5 certainly needs to be addressed. We will do everything in our power to address it.

On behalf of the committee, I thank Councillor Canning, Ms Margey and Councillor Hastings for coming here today and giving a very concise and informative synopsis of the situation. We will work with them. I thank the members and Members who attended the committee today for making a very worthwhile contribution. I wish the witnesses well in the future with their work and we look forward to meeting them again.