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

On the ESRI and National Economic and Social Council, NESC, reports, the research programme with the ESRI is focusing on aspects of health, education, enterprise and an all-island economy post Brexit, which NESC has worked on. Scoping papers for each research topic were published on 17 May. Final reports will be published in December and early 2022. They will be important reports. Specifically, in 2021, the ESRI worked on building understanding of the structure and composition of cross-Border trade and services, so we will get a better understanding of that on the island of Ireland; examining the primary healthcare system of Ireland and Northern Ireland and drawing out implications for policy; examining patterns of educational participation and attainment in the two jurisdictions; and assessing what lessons can be learned for the future.

I have an issue around school completions. In the North, school completion rates in certain communities could be much better than they are. That is a factor. We are in a stronger position, but maybe lessons can be learned both ways. The ESRI is looking at issues that could enhance the attractiveness of the island as a whole to high-value foreign direct investment. I do not have enough time to go through everything, but NESC is covering a whole range of areas, as I have identified. On 28 October, NESC published a shared island report on collaborating on climate biodiversity challenges on the island. It has published scoping papers on the economy and regional development, tackling poverty, mental health, social enterprise and climate.

A lot of good solid research work is being done, funded through the shared island initiative. On a much bigger scale, we have provided €40 million for research conducted jointly between third level institutions in the North and the South. We will fund it all but we want equal collaboration between third level institutions in the North and the South on matters of mutual interest to the benefit of the island.

Deputy Haughey raised the issue of young people. It is very important that young people in the Republic get engaged in the debate about the future of the island. We have had a number of engagements and would like more to allow young people in Dublin, Galway, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and elsewhere to engage with young people from Northern Ireland. We are facilitating that.

We also want to facilitate political exchanges between people from different political backgrounds and traditions. Some such engagements would be conducted under the Chatham House rule. I engaged in meetings of this kind back in the early 1990s and they were very valuable. Politicians could feel safe and secure in coming into an environment for a weekend of engagement knowing no one would comment publicly on what was said. To break down barriers, it is important that people cannot be manipulated as a result of something they may say at a meeting. It is important that people can speak frankly about things. We need an awful lot more of that. To its credit, the British-Irish Association has been doing that for more than 30 years. That has been a very valuable instrument. I have been involved in a number of meetings of that kind myself and they have given me a better understanding of where people are coming from. At the end of the day, we are all politicians and we understand the pressures put on us by our constituencies and electoral bases. That is something we need to continue to work at. I would like to see that developed further.

I hope I have covered most of the issues. On the protests in respect of the protocol, we need a negotiated resolution. We need to keep tensions at a certain level. We need to dial it down. When talking to unionist colleagues and other colleagues, I have been at pains to point out that there is a process for negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom Government. I would say to the United Kingdom Government that it is extremely important that this matter does not get elevated to a question of identity or connected with some other area to which it does not really apply. It is about ensuring that goods can travel from Great Britain to Northern Ireland with the minimum of checks. The European Union is up for that.

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