Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

That requires political agreement. It is important that there is a structured institutional architecture between the North and South in advancing the objectives of the Good Friday Agreement. In the past, it was suggested co-operation could be considered on a case by case basis, which could well depend on the relative enthusiasm or commitment of the incumbents in office and the relevant Department or agency. The purpose of insisting on six areas of co-operation and having a structured arrangement was to ensure consistency and continuity. It was originally envisaged that would evolve into wider areas of co-operation where further structured co-operation could be advanced and agreed. For example, we do not have a structured co-operative system in the area of energy. We have witnessed many advancements in this area because of the impetus from Europe regarding competition issues, the Commission for Energy Regulation, which we established, and the setting up of the all-island electricity market. There has been a great deal of co-operation in this area and this enhances the argument for a structured set up on that basis since substantive co-operation is taking place.

We should not underestimate the political significance of allowing our respective peoples to see that a system is in place which is working and being maintained and which is not simply subject to an unstructured scenario where one may not get the system in place that one wants to see. I do not agree with the Deputy that we should coalesce those six areas. I acknowledge his comments about all-island structures, which could be argued for on a case by case basis. At present, there are some difficulties. We must proceed as we are and try to encourage the spirit of the agreement, which was to consider other areas of co-operation and provide a structured basis for them.

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