Ms Aingeal O?Donoghue:

We have had quite a lot of engagement with the north west. I am very conscious I am speaking in the presence of Deputies from the region but there is no doubt when meeting people from Donegal County Council or Derry City and Strabane District Council - we normally meet them together - that the level of co-operation between them and the extent to which they see progress for the north west involving both sides of the Border are very striking. We already have with these bodies a north west strategic growth partnership in which the Irish Government and Northern Ireland Executive put €2.5 million each. This is a sort of leverage fund to enable these bodies to do more work on what might be beneficial. Some of that funding is coming to an end and from the Irish Government's perspective, we are very open to continuing it. We will find a way to do that.

More important are the discussions beyond that into what we can do specifically. The Chairman mentioned the A5 and higher education capacity for the region is a really big theme in the north west. It is critical as a driver. Again, I am conscious there are representatives from the region. There is a sense that some of the initial or earlier infrastructure problems, such as broadband and connectivity issues, are no longer as pressing as they were and we now need to consider newer areas of development, including climate response, the climate economy and, as I mentioned, developing enterprise further with technology parks, etc. There are many ideas and we are certainly working quite closely with these bodies. We have a meeting scheduled with the north west strategic growth partnership for early July. It is very active. The education piece is certainly one of the strongest themes over and above traditional infrastructure.