Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach. I welcome Professors Heenan and Matthews and thank them for their presentations and the open discussion.

I come from the north west so I am pretty much aware of the cardiovascular and cancer services available. The first point I would have to make is that it is paid for by the South. What services we get, we pay for. Number two, we have no input into how those services are provided. Number three, we play the second fiddle. If those services are at their peak, we do not get access to them. Maybe they are not what they are portrayed to be. They are fantastic services but there are improvements that could be made. They are a catalyst for similar workings across the Border. Justin McNulty has been in my ear and colleagues' ears in relation to Daisy Hill and how it could share services with counties south of the Border in a range of areas. There are many other hospitals in the same boat.

I am struck by the witnesses' comments. As a politician, I realise not everything is rosy in the garden in Northern Ireland. If it was, our health service would have been sorted long ago, as would our police and education services. I do not believe it is as simple as two Ministers coming together and agreeing everything and then everything is rosy and dandy. We know that has not happened in the past and it will not easily happen now. There is a lot of work to do. I would like access to more stats and I thought I would have had more stats on health services North and South from today's presentations.

Am I to take it from what Professor Heenan has said that the research going on is insufficient? Is she saying the research done through shared island is not at a level that will identify deficiencies in health services, North versus South? It is important we establish those facts. Before we put the cart before the horse, we need to establish the facts. The facts are the most important thing.

This will not be agreed by two Ministers. It is a much bigger picture in the constitutional question. That is why this cannot be rushed and the research is so important. While it is good to get bits and pieces done, we will not get answers to all our difficulties on a cross-Border basis. It is important we get to the bottom of where we are at and the different categories of health.

What impact, if any, will the £37 million into the health school in Magee-Ulster University have on cross-Border health services and provision of health services? I have not seen that mentioned.

Over the past ten years, through Covid-19 and other factors, Stormont has been down more times than it has been up. How much impact has that had on cross-Border sharing of health services? Now we are back at the table again and, thankfully, Stormont is working again. Relations have had to be rebuilt. These have to be factored into building relations because relations were damaged. They were also damaged by Brexit. As the witnesses know, politics is not simple.