Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The model measures a number of outcomes and steps that would be taken with regard to harmonisation of tax. We see some of that harmonisation in the adoption of common currency, convergence in productivity across the island and the eradication of parallel government structures. It states that €35 billion would be created if the economy in the South were to integrate with the Northern economy, that is, €1,497 per person in the first year of that integration, and €5,650,000 of extra GDP per person, man, woman and child on the island of Ireland in the eight years. That is a massive amount. It states that the two economies are interlinked and interdependent but it also states that there is a massive economic gap and that hundreds of thousands of people, right through the island and especially along the Border corridor, are falling through that economic gap every year. As Deputy Dara Calleary said, the Minister does not answer questions. The simple question is whether the Minister has read the document.

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