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

On Deputy Richmond's points, in essence we welcome the fact that the EU–UK joint committee, co-chaired by Vice President Šefčovič and the UK Foreign Secretary, Ms Liz Truss, met on 21 February. We also welcome the continuation of the technical talks and the meeting yesterday of the Specialised Committee on the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. At the meeting, the EU and UK reiterated the importance of further engagement with business groups, civil society and other stakeholders in Northern Ireland and committed to further joint engagements. Vice President Šefčovič and the Commission continue to have my full support. I hope the British Government will engage constructively so we can find pragmatic solutions.

Deputy Brendan Smith raised the issue of pragmatic solutions given the international crisis we are now experiencing owing to the appalling war in Ukraine. The focus has to remain on addressing genuine problems that have been raised. Reaching an agreed approach to the protocol is an important factor in allowing us all to turn the page and open up a new chapter in a forward-looking constructive EU–UK relationship and partnership. Flexibility and pragmatism, to which Deputy Smith referred, are key.

It is emerging that the protocol is presenting significant opportunities for business and employment in Northern Ireland. I take what Deputy Smith said about his conversations this morning at the committee, indicating that people of all shades of opinion wanted a pragmatic solution to this. Northern Ireland is now the only place in the world that has free and full access to both the EU Single Market and the UK's market.

Invest Northern Ireland is seeing historically high levels of FDI interest in Northern Ireland. Investment announcements have been made throughout the year based on dual market access. Recent figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics show the Northern Ireland economy has outperformed and recovered from the impact of Covid-19 faster than the rest of the UK. Recent polls on attitudes to the protocol show support across communities for solution-seeking and a pragmatic approach. That gives me hope that both sides can reach a conclusion in the best interest of the people of Northern Ireland.

On the common travel area, I take the point that the humanitarian response is our priority. We will engage in ongoing discussions with the UK Government on this. The UK Government is also reflecting on its position given the scale of the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding.

On Deputy Farrell's points, the EU has been very open to facilitating dialogue in the context of the protocol discussions through the joint committee but also through working with and meeting all the parties and stakeholders.

With regard to the EU institutions themselves, there is a limit to what can actually be achieved in respect of the agreements arrived at between the EU and UK. We have advocated engagement by Northern Ireland with EU institutions and so on. However, with regard to Council meetings, it becomes far more problematic from an EU perspective. There are limits to what can be achieved in this regard.

The Government is working on a referendum on voting rights. I have referred to this in the context of what is now a debate, involving all perspectives, on the security situation in Europe. A citizens' assembly is perhaps a good forum to have the issues properly teased out and researched and in which to have an informed debate on them.

I am not fully familiar with what Deputy Paul Murphy mentioned. He said he had secured the passage in the Assembly of a 10% reduction in rents but that this has now been overturned. He said Sinn Féin buckled under the pressure of the corporate landlords, which is some assertion. That would be a surprise. On the other hand, maybe there is a sense of realism breaking through because, as we have indicated here, there are realities associated with the private rental market that cannot be ignored. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin Ministers tend to have a greater grasp of the realities and realpolitikassociated with what is and is not possible, as opposed to Sinn Féin leadership in opposition in the Republic, who very often put forward ideas their colleagues in the North simply cannot implement. It illustrates that, objectively, one has to be realistic in the proposals one puts forward.

In the Republic, landlords are leaving the market right now. Those with one or two houses are leaving it. There has been a decline in the number of landlords over the past two years. We need more. We need an increase in the number of units in the private rental market to deal with the broader housing issue. We need more social housing, affordable housing and cost rental housing. The latter has great potential but we must increase its scale massively.

I take Deputy Tóibín's point. There is a lot of research under way. The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, will shortly be publishing its comprehensive research on economic opportunities in an all-island context, including opportunities associated with the environment, climate change and biodiversity. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and other bodies have undertaken research on aspects of health services, particularly primary care services, in the North and South. We have commissioned some research in respect of the educational curriculum. Interestingly, through the shared island unit, we recently allocated about €37 million for successful collaborations between third level institutions in the North and the Republic. They are to be fully funded by the shared island unit.

One of the research projects, for example, is a collaboration between Magee College and NUI Galway around maximising human and social capital in the Border area in terms of economic and social development and along the western seaboard in the north west and the west. A lot will come from those individual research projects also.

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