Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

It was worthwhile to give my Government colleague latitude because he was giving the House very valid information.

The Government amendment mentions the commitment to the North-South consultative forum in the St. Andrews Agreement and it is important that I reiterate Deputy Hannigan's observation and insight as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that it is important to get it up and going. There should be an onus on both Administrations to get it going as a priority. It provides an opportunity, particularly at a time of reconfiguration in the community and voluntary sector at grassroots level. I acknowledge certain funding constraints exist and the community and voluntary sector will face certain challenges, but the positive news is that the sector is alive and well.

I acknowledge the Ceann Comhairle's role and proactive involvement with Willie Hay, the Speaker of the House in Northern Ireland, in trying to get the political mechanism of the parliamentary forum up and running. It is important that we have a dual focus, and the consultative forum should be pursued vigorously alongside the efforts of the Ceann Comhairle.

While the sector does face reconfiguration, this presents an opportunity. There is much close connectivity between the voluntary and community sectors North and South and much good work is done. However there is also much duplication, and the Government amendment places emphasis on reduced duplication.

Last week, I spoke at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester and made the point there is an emphasis on duplication in Northern Ireland at present, lead by the two Government parties. The word used by people down here is "ameliorate" but there is an austerity programme in Northern Ireland with a realignment of services. We should pursue more aggressively a realignment of services on a North-South basis. We need to engage more with the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat Party Government in the UK to pursue this agenda. It is not good enough to focus on the Good Friday agreement aspects between Stormont and Westminster, as there is a third tier which is east-west North-South linkage. It is important because it presents opportunities with regard to economies of scale. We always ask why certain projects fall between two stools. Greencastle ferry cannot get mainstream funding-----

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