Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 23 November 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement

All-Ireland Economy: Discussion

Mr. Paul Mac Flynn:

I will take that first. Maybe we did not communicate it as eloquently as we should have but what we are arguing is that if we are talking about the all-island economy, in whatever context we are talking about it, we do not see it as extending one into the other, as has often been the case in discussions of this. We see the all-island economy as being greater than the sum of its parts. We see that as having a clear-eyed and honest appraisal of both economies and being very aware of both sets of strengths and weaknesses. Probably, the idea about having an overall policy framework and an approach is to say that the final destination we wish to see for both economies on the island of Ireland is the same but they are starting from two very different positions and, therefore, the specific policy prescriptions that will have to be applied in both jurisdictions will be very different. That necessarily means having two sets of policy prescriptions but arriving at the same place, and that-----