Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply, which again reflects the debate we had at the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. I welcome the fact that the Minister will have an additional €2.65 billion available for capital expenditure following the review of the current plan, which ends in 2021. I hope a clear message will go from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to the line Departments that the needs of the Border region must be reprioritised. The Minister is well aware from his colleagues, listening to debates in this House, and engagement both North and South of the Border, that there is significant fear in the Border region due to the uncertainty affecting business there. We must be able to send out the message that the Government will act, and that within the competences available to it, it will make decisions and prioritise the needs of the Border region.

We are one of 27 member states negotiating with the British side on the terms of the EU-British agreement following Brexit. There are decisions the Government alone will make. The Minister and his colleagues in government will make the decisions on where capital expenditure goes. For historical reasons, due to the Troubles that maimed our country for so long, there was not investment in our area. Thankfully, since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 there has been a remarkable transformation but we are still some way behind in terms of the infrastructure we need.

I again welcome the fact the Minister will have additional money available to him. I accept he faces huge challenges and plenty of demands but it is important to send a good message to the Border region, both North and South, about a reprioritisation of the capital funds that are available to him for the current plan and also in planning for post-2021.

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