Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I am disappointed she will not commission a report. I appreciate the work she and her Department have done on Brexit so far but this is a separate issue. I have asked this question a number of times. It is an important issue. I find it astonishing that no such Government data are available to us. The Modeling Irish Unification study by Dr. Kurt Hübner was published in 2015. It found the political and economic reunification of Ireland could deliver a €35.6 billion boost in GDP for the island in the first eight years. As the demographics change in the North and as the disaster of Brexit becomes more of a reality, the debate about the reunification of Ireland will continue to intensify. Data on the economic benefits will form a central part of that debate on a united Ireland. There is a responsibility on the Government to provide such data. The Minister will probably come to regret her failure to commission a report. Are there any internal reports or analysis on this topic that can be made available? Has the Department looked into it?

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