Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his detailed and positive response to my question. As he is well aware, substantial public funding has been committed to an all-island investment from 2021 to 2030 through the shared island initiative, PEACE PLUS and Project Ireland 2040. I know from engagement at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that there is a warm welcome from both political traditions on this island for the shared island initiative and the other funding streams. That welcome is shared by members of the British Parliament, given the benefits it will bring on an all-Ireland basis.

Recently, the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement received a presentation from the All-Island Cancer Research Institute, AICRI. It was heartening to listen to its representatives outlining how important shared island funding had been for them. Universities and hospitals on this island, North and South, are working together and with counterparts in Britain and America. Fabulous work and research is being done to try to cope with the terrible disease of cancer and the frightening prospect of how much more it will impact on the population.

The Taoiseach mentioned how education, including higher education, would be a beneficiary of the shared island initiative. I would like emphasis to be placed on further education. There is scope to have our colleges of further education, North and South, working together, identifying courses that can be delivered in Enniskillen for students from the South and in Cavan and Monaghan for our neighbours in Northern Ireland. There could be a much greater sharing of resources in further and higher education. Recently, I had the opportunity to meet the provost and her senior personnel at the University of Ulster. They were excited about the possibilities of more co-operation with their counterparts in this State through shared island funding.

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