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

It is startling that the Minister said it does not call for actions. If €35 billion could be gained following economic integration, then €35 billion is the cost of doing nothing and standing over a policy inaction or inertia with regard to not getting involved. The Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, appeared on a BBC programme a couple of weeks ago and was asked a very important question about the costing of an all-Ireland economy and, gormlessly, he answered by saying he did not know. The report stated that there is a dearth of research on this issue across the world. That the report was commissioned and carried out in the US says something shocking with regard to this issue. Blissful ignorance is not an opportunity for the Government or the people of Ireland to do nothing. Will the Minister carry out research on best case scenarios and take elements of the report - without full unification which would take political decisions - that could be implemented purely under the Good Friday Agreement and do a cost-benefit analysis of those?

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