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

I commend InterTrade Ireland on its work. I have met the staff at their offices in Newry. I encourage the Minister to consider the proposal I have put to her. We cannot rely on private reports for our data. We need Government data. Last year the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation spent more than €1.3 million on 19 reports and to date this year it has spent €650,000 on reports ranging from Brexit to IT security to geocoding. Therefore, I do not think it is unreasonable to ask that a report on the economic benefits of a united Ireland be commissioned. As this is a core objective of Sinn Féin and I assume of Fianna Fáil, the Republican Party and Fine Gael the united Ireland party, this would be money well spent and provide a very valuable insight into the benefits and challenges that reunification would bring.

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