Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputies for raising a variety of issues. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked about the sports front. There has been a range of investments. Casement Park is a significant one, with a €50 million allocation. There is also the sports club electric vehicle, EV, charging scheme, which got into difficulty in terms of procurement and the roll-out of public EV charging points in community sports clubs across the island. In September 2024, the Department of Transport announced that more than 220 sports clubs across the island were eligible to apply. There were then issues with different standards and approaches North and South. In any event, the Department of Transport now expects delivery to progress quickly once the procurement process is completed. It was launched in early April. That is just one illustration. To give another example, the shared island fund unit allocated €12.5 million to the Dublin-Belfast rail service, which was matched by the Department of Transport. The new hourly frequency has resulted in a 50% rise in passenger numbers on the Enterprise service. That is enhancement of transport connectivity, which is good for SMEs and good for business. The shared island initiative has been able to bring that about, apart from all the other projects we have funded. Sixteen research projects have now been published by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which makes for a transparent piece of work. There is a compilation of those research outcomes on different issues on both sides of the Border.

On Deputy Brendan Smith's question, there is a proposal on workspace hubs in the central Border area. That is progressing and I will ask the unit to engage with the Deputy and to fill him in on the details of that. The shared island unit funded an earlier enterprise project between Donegal and Derry. That also took some time to get together, but the local authorities have identified it as an issue of concern in the central Border area. The shared island initiative has been effective as a catalyst to get local authorities North and South talking and working together to create a pipeline of projects for the future.

On Deputy Bacik's question, the shared island initiative does not deal with legacy issues. However, I am engaged in those issues with the Tánaiste and Minister for foreign affairs. We have made progress on the legacy issue with the United Kingdom Government. We believe there should be an investigate arm to whatever vehicle is finally decided on to have a permanent structure to deal with legacy issues. I believe that needs to happen. There have been ongoing discussions between the United Kingdom Government and the Irish Government. I hope they come to a conclusion in the coming month or so. It could be more than a month, but that would be the objective. A lot of engagement has happened. In respect of the murder of Denis Donaldson, I will speak to the Minister for justice. If the Garda is investigating, that needs to happen. It cannot cut across that but, on the other hand, I hear there is significant trauma. The family have written and there has been publicity of late in respect of that. I will speak to the Minister for justice about it.

On Deputy Paul Murphy's question, most people do not perceive that there is an invisible hard border.

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