Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, together.

Through the shared island initiative, the Government is engaging with all communities to build a consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The Government has so far allocated almost €250 million from the shared island fund. This includes contributing to the expansion of higher education infrastructure in the north west, with funding for a new teaching building at Ulster University in Derry, and progressing the Ulster Canal restoration in the central Border region. The Government has also introduced new programmes that bring people together throughout the island, including through the community climate action scheme, the Creative Ireland programme and the shared island civic society fund.

I will open the third annual shared island forum on 8 February in Dublin Castle and will set out then the Government’s priorities for the initiative in the year ahead.

I met with members of the shared island youth forum in Dublin on 7 December. Since September, the forum has been bringing together 80 young people aged 18 to 25, who are meeting regularly over the course of a year to develop and to set out their vision and values for a shared future on the island. The forum members were all born after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. They are dedicated to using the forum as an opportunity to give voice to their generation, and to help to influence how we share the island of Ireland into the future. I look forward to the forum’s outcome statement later this year.

The shared island dialogue series is continuing with more than 3,300 citizens and civic representatives having participated in the past three years. The Tánaiste spoke at the most recent event in October on the theme of accommodating national identities. The shared island research programme is also continuing, with 30 publications so far examining the island in economic, cultural, social and political terms. The next ESRI shared island report examines housing supply factors and will be launched on 31 January.

Finally, I want to recognise the serious challenges for the people of Northern Ireland and for the Good Friday Agreement with the continuing absence of the power-sharing institutions for almost two years now. The Government will continue to work to see the return of the power-sharing institutions. Under all scenarios we will also continue to develop opportunities to take forward all-island investment and co-operation and to deepen both North-South and east-west relationships, in accordance with the objectives and commitments of the Good Friday Agreement.

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