Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, in respect of the Estimate, which was the subject of the question, I would be very happy to take the opportunity at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, if the Deputy wishes, to tease through some of the detail. The 2012 Estimate was the first on which we undertook this performance budgeting. The idea was basically to reflect in the Estimate what the real cost of staff and all resources would be. To some extent, that is a learning experience and, in the adjustments in this year's Estimate, we have learned from this and are coming to the conclusion that we are doing more on the Northern Ireland side than was reflected in the 2012 Estimate. That is just a technical point.

In respect of the issue in Northern Ireland, one of the great strengths of the Good Friday Agreement was the idea of mutual respect - that there are two national identities and there is respect for each. As we move forward, it is critical that we retain that fundamental principle of the Agreement. We also need to understand and to be respectful of people whose identity is British and to be sensitive to that identity, particularly at a time of demographic change in Northern Ireland. Above all, this needs to be done in a collective way by all of the parties in Northern Ireland.

Everybody in Northern Ireland needs to feel at home and needs to feel comfortable, and we need to understand and be sensitive to that. Where we have to draw the line, however, is where the expression of that, or protest about that, spills over into the kind of street violence we have seen in recent times. As the Deputy said, we have to work on the ground in building up local communities and building cross-community relationships. That is where the anti-sectarianism and the peace and reconciliation funding of my Department comes in.

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