Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I am encouraged to hear the Tánaiste talking about the importance of those dynamic co-operations. When you look at three strands of the Good Friday Agreement, while there have been stops and starts with strand one, the Executive and the Assembly in Northern Ireland, by its very nature strand two cannot operate without strand one being in place, so it is good to see that renewed momentum. The challenge for us now is to embed that co-operation so that it is not just about investment but, as the Tánaiste said, it is about joint co-operation, joint research design and joint strategy on advancing policy outcomes. I would hate for us to move to a space where it is all just around the investment and paying for stuff as opposed to - as the Tánaiste has rightly pointed out - the need for us to have that really proactive co-operation with regard to those conversations, and then being innovative and exploratory in how we deepen those 12 areas of co-operation. I refer to using education as a vehicle to advance skills connectedness and a joined-up skills strategy on the island, which then lays the foundation for an all-Ireland labour market.

Of the three strands of the agreement, strand three is probably the best embedded because of what happened with Brexit and the fact that it does not depend on the Executive and the Assembly. We need to have that same impetus and momentum behind strand two of the agreement as well.

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