Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Martin, who has raised quite a number of issues. I hope the forum and the opportunity for discussion in respect of civic matters will not be just, as the Deputy said, a stitched-up operation between two of the major parties in the Assembly. I hope it is realistic and that it is allowed to address issues that need to be addressed.

The co-operation that exists between ourselves and Northern Ireland has probably never been at a higher level. I can testify to the level of activity between the different Ministers on the North-South Ministerial Council. They are very active on a range of co-operative and beneficial measures either side of the Border and they meet on a very regular basis to discuss issues that need to be talked about.

In transport, for instance, Ministers have discussed the operation of the strategic transport priorities, which includes strategic road and sustainable transport networks across the island. We have this business of truckers from here going into Northern Ireland, and the roads that are tolled, charged or levied as a consequence. There is a lot of activity at the moment in regard to the possibility of European Union funding for a system of greenways throughout the island of Ireland, with particular reference to cross-Border opportunities. As I said, the A5 project has been already reaffirmed, with Stg£50 million to be allocated, depending on how the legal process works out for the sections of the A5 that have to be done.

In the whole tourism and hospitality sector, there is a great deal of co-operation. I recall that, when the Canary Wharf bomb went off, the big tourism fair in Earls Court was to take place just a couple of days later. Baroness Denton, God rest her, was the Minister for Northern Ireland at the time. There were a lot of claims that we should not attend the Earls Court tourism fair. For years, there was the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Bord Fáilte but, instead of having two separate entities, we put them all on the one stand - the Ireland stand or the island of Ireland stand. I remember seeing the pride in people's faces, whether from North or South, in that they were, in those difficult circumstances, promoting people coming to the island of Ireland and, irrespective of where they landed, be it Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock or otherwise, they were visitors to our country.

That has obviously, as Deputy Martin is well aware, moved on to the co-operation with regard to the Giro d'Italia and the spectacle of colour and excitement that brought; the co-operation before the Olympics with the Olympic flame and the children from North and South; and the Irish Open golf tournament, which has been moved from the Republic to Northern Ireland on a one-in-three basis, and this year is in the home course of the world No. 1 golfer, which is an opportunity for the European tour, and for those who follow the sport or participate in it, to have another engagement in visiting Northern Ireland.

I attended an event at the Royal School in Armagh on the occasion of the last meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council where it was agreed to make a joint North-South bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023. My assessment is that Ireland can win the right to host it, which would have an enormous advantage in terms of what it can bring to the island of Ireland, a small country where people would not have to travel 1,000 miles between games and which is close to the major rugby playing nations in Europe. After Japan has had the opportunity to host it, it will come back to this continent for 2023. The bid will be decided in the course of the next year or so. It will be a brilliant opportunity to get the very best of co-operation North and South in terms of the island of Ireland and what that means.

I commend the Gaelic Athletic Association, which made its decision promptly to say that if this is good for the island of Ireland and the economics of Ireland it will gladly support the bid and made its stadia available. There will be a new one in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork and I assume that Casement will be dealt with. Other pitches around the country, where appropriate, will be made available.

The Deputy is aware of the British-Irish visa scheme which was launched in October 2014. It removes the need for those visiting Northern Ireland to apply for a separate visa to travel across the Border and vice versa. It applies in a number of Far Eastern countries, to Britain and Ireland and, of course, to Northern Ireland. The scheme was initially rolled out for India and China, and will significantly boost business and holiday visitors here. I am glad to note the decision of the Chinese authorities to open the doors of their country to Irish beef. In an island context it will be of benefit.

IntertradeIreland continues to grow and support cross-Border business. It has had a significant impact on SMEs. We have worked very hard to make extra credit available for SMEs. It used to be the case, as Deputy Martin is well aware, that a company would test the market in Northern Ireland, which is a small market. We have moved through that. We still have great contact with Northern Ireland, but we also have contact with Britain and beyond in terms of the expanding capacity of Irish SMEs.

I was in Monaghan within the past fortnight. It was quite an inspiring opportunity to see that the personnel from Combilift are moving to a new 100 acre site in Monaghan to build a brand new engineering plant for specific forklift trucks for large steel loads and so on. The company employs 500 people and will go beyond that. It operates on a global scale and has cross-Border personnel.

See this speech in context