Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fáilte abhaile roimh an Taoiseach fosta.

I thank the Taoiseach for his answer. Clearly, what we need is a decision. I understand this analysis has to be done but it would be a sin if the cocktail of funding that has been put together was lost. The Government has said - the Tánaiste said this very recently - that we need to take the brakes off all-island economic development. The Government also quite correctly said disadvantage is very prominent along the Border and along the Border corridor and that people there have suffered grievously because of partition. This is a very practical example of a lot of hard work done over a very long time. It is very unique to get so much co-operation among all the different sectors involved, which the Taoiseach acknowledged in his answer.

We have until 18 January to crunch this. Basically, what is required from the Government is €6 million from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government or some arrangement around other incentives which could be put in place. Will the Taoiseach make this happen?

When one gets the Assembly, the Executive and the Government here joined up in this way, if the Taoiseach decided to make this happen, it would happen. I appeal to him to do so. I understand the difficulties involved as I am heavily involved in this. Sinn Féin has been campaigning on this matter. It is very much up to the Taoiseach to take this as a very concrete example of building a prosperity process out of a peace process. We talk about stimulus, about getting the construction industry going and about exploiting, for the sake of our citizens, the tourism and other potential in some of these areas. This is a classic case of where that can all happen if the Taoiseach decides to make it happen.

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