Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The same point applies to the Stormont House Agreement. There can be no unilateral action under the Stormont House Agreement. There must be full engagement with all of the parties and, indeed, the two Governments. That is the approach of the Irish Government to that matter.

Deputy Tóibín asked about justice for the families of the victims of the Ballymurphy massacre. That is a matter for further discussion, as are a range of other issue across the board.

In response to the questions asked by Deputy Boyd Barrett, I met with taxi drivers last week and had a constructive and lengthy meeting with them. I will be reverting to the Minister responsible and the Government in respect of the issues raised at that meeting.

One can compare like with like in terms of supports in the North compared with the Republic. The Deputy's suggestion that nothing has been given here is wrong. A range of supports has been provided. The issue is the scale, quality and quantity of those supports and whether more can be done. We must work to do more to try to facilitate taxi drivers, particularly as the economy and society are reopening, in order that we can deal with the issues they have that are specific to their industry.

In the spirit of solidarity, Deputy Barry raised the issue of the workers in a bakery in Belfast and crèche workers in Queen's University Belfast. I welcome that the bakers got a resolution and successfully campaigned for improvement in their conditions and pay. We also hope the crèche workers can get a resolution on their issue.

Deputy Conway-Walsh raised the issue of education and ESRI research. The ESRI research covers cross-Border trade in services on the island of Ireland and work on the structure and composition of that cross-Border trade is under way. The ESRI will then compare the primary healthcare systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland and draw implications for policy. The ESRI generally does the analysis and research on implications for policy formulation and it is then up to the Government and other agencies to decide on implementation.

On education, the ESRI will compare patterns of educational participation and attainment in the two jurisdictions and assess what lessons can be learned for the future. One area that has not received the attention it should have over the last decade has been participation rates in third level education in all communities, particularly socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland, as well as levels of completion of second level education. In some areas of significant socioeconomic disadvantage, progression to further and third level education has been far too low. A very substantive programme needs to be developed by the two Governments, with the Northern Ireland Executive, to deal comprehensively, once and for all, with the issue of educational disadvantage in the North. That will take time.

Some communities that historically relied on traditional forms of employment, whether it was shipbuilding, textiles or whatever, have not quite made the same adjustments that have been made in other areas of Ireland that suffered similar adjustments in an earlier period but managed to bring in technology and other new industries, and also developed educational opportunities. I believe that is key and I look forward to the ESRI report in that regard.

It is not so much about saying we can create an all-island system. There is an education system in the North. We can seek greater complementarity. I put forward proposals seven or eight years ago around curriculum complementarity, for example, the English curriculum and whether we can develop shared narratives around certain areas of historical study, and also around qualifications in terms of facilitating progression, North and South, to various third level situations. That has worked over the years but it can be improved upon, particularly given the changes this year in respect of the costs that will apply to Irish citizens for admission to Scottish universities and third level institutions. That will have implications for third level places here. We are looking at potential tie-ups between colleges, North and South, and having institutions working together on certain programmes and projects, whether that is Ulster University Magee Campus working with Letterkenny Institute of Technology or other institutions or whether it is Queen's University Belfast working with other institutions.

The ESRI is then looking at factors that could enhance the attractiveness of the island as a whole to high-value foreign direct investment, FDI, and identifying opportunities for greater co-operation and policy co-ordination. As part of the shared island fund, we are looking at funding and being part of the city deals project, which is around investing in industrial parks on the Derry side and the Donegal side, with a view to combining the various assets, be it the skilled labour force or the FDI attractiveness of the Southern side. It is about asking whether we can develop more FDI jobs in the overall north-west region and be facilitative of that. The investment in those parks will certainly be a very important development and we look forward to the ESRI's work in that regard.

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