Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

If the Government's only objective was to set about creating a health service, which was efficient and ensured good services for the people of Ireland, would it slap a border in the middle of it? Would it create two Departments and two Administrations and duplicate the process? If the Government's only objective is to develop enterprise again, would the Government slap a border in the middle of it, create two Departments, two Administrations and two international office networks? It would not. I have worked for InterTrade Ireland. It was one of the projects which Sinn Féin pushed for in the Good Friday Agreement.

I am asking the Minister what this Government has done to push the issue forward. I do not want him to cite agencies created 14 years ago. I would ask that he leave his script aside and speak to this directly. This is an issue on which both of us could be on the same page. It is something that could reduce the cost to the State and increase the level of enterprise development. Will the Minister use the North-South Ministerial body - we have an open ear in terms of our party in the North of Ireland - to not alone express platitudes or to quote history on this issue but to push hard for this development?

See this speech in context