Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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20. To ask the Taoiseach for a report on new shared island projects. [16782/25]

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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21. To ask the Taoiseach for a report on new shared island projects. [22202/25]

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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22. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work being carried out by the shared island unit with sport's governing bodies in promoting its objectives through grassroots engagement. [22408/25]

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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23. To ask the Taoiseach to report on the recent work of the Economic and Social Research Institute as part of the shared island initiative. [22483/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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24. To ask the Taoiseach to provide an update on the shared island initiative. [23472/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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25. To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide details of the new projects that will be delivered under the shared island scheme in the next five years. [25742/25]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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26. To ask the Taoiseach for a report on new shared island projects. [25991/25]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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27. To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the shared island initiative. [26916/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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28. To ask the Taoiseach for a report on new shared island projects. [29327/25]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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29. To ask the Taoiseach to provide an update on the shared island initiative. [29590/25]

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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30. To ask the Taoiseach for a report on new shared island projects. [29727/25]

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Taoiseach for a report on new shared island projects. [30140/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 to 31, inclusive, together.

On 10 April, I announced the new phase of the Government’s shared island initiative in a keynote address to the fourth shared island forum. Our programme for Government sets out an ambitious agenda for building a shared island, backed by a further €1 billion commitment to the shared island fund out to 2035. Already on 25 February, the Government announced over €50 million from the shared island fund for new programmes to run from 2025-30 on sustainable tourism, arts and cultural heritage, civic society co-operation and community-led nature restoration. Government Departments have been tasked to bring forward further new shared island projects proposals this year that will implement our commitments to more strategic all-island investment and co-operation across virtually all sectors over the next five years.

At the shared island forum I also announced a new dimension the initiative to commence later this year called the shared home place programme. This will be open to the people from every corner of the island to build new connections through our place-based heritage. It will engage also with Irish communities in Britain and further afield and with the contributions of Irish, Anglo-Irish and Ulster-Scots traditions across the island of Ireland, recognising how these are an integral part of the heritage of every county today and crucial to how we approach and build our future.

On sport, our programme for Government affirms we will promote an all-island approach to hosting major international sporting events. Sports governing bodies and clubs have successfully applied to the shared island civic society fund and reconciliation fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for support for cross-Border grassroots engagements and tournaments.

On 28 April I launched an overarching report of the Economic and Social Research Institute’s joint research programme with my Department as part of the shared island initiative, which has produced 16 reports to date. All reports are publicly available on gov.ie. Research is an essential part of the initiative and on 28 April I also announced a new phase of further joint research with the ESRI commencing this year. We need data to inform all-island investment and co-operation priorities as we build a shared future together on this island. The huge untapped further potential of all-island co-operation is a major takeaway from the ESRI’s overarching report. This reflects the Government’s commitments to expand and progress our shared island initiative so that we bring co-operation and relationships across the island of Ireland to a new level.

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Without doubt the shared island initiative is one of the signature achievements in taking forward the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and ensuring there is reconciliation and also that we see this shared island as our common home place. I am struck also by the Taoiseach's mention that sports governing bodies have been engaged by applying to the various funds for activation across the island. I wonder whether he could say more about how his Department and the Department of foreign affairs are pro-actively engaging with the sports governing bodies to see what initiatives are working well for them in terms of achieving the objectives set out by the shared island fund. I met representatives of Basketball Ireland recently. They told me about a number of initiatives they are seeking to explore in Northern Ireland. As we know, the vast majority of governing bodies on the island operate on an all-island basis. There is potential here for us to encourage that integration and the objectives of the shared island initiative by pro-actively engaging with the likes of Basketball Ireland, Cricket Ireland, the IRFU, the GAA and so on. I would love to hear the Taoiseach's thoughts on that matter.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Like Deputy Moynihan I very much welcome the measures in the shared island initiative. It has gained support from all political traditions on this island. The Taoiseach may remember that when he launched the initiative I raised with him the need to have an enterprise initiative within the shared island programme. Subsequently, local authorities on both sides of the Border were enabled to put in joint submissions in regard to the development of work space enterprise centres, innovation centres and research centres. I am very anxious that initiative is given impetus because, as the Taoiseach has often heard me say in the House, those of us who live in the central Border area – I have the privilege of representing two of the southern Ulster counties, namely, Cavan and Monaghan – along with our neighbours in Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh are very conscious we need to support local enterprise. Fortunately, over the years local authorities and voluntary organisations developed enterprise centres. Some of the small companies that commenced their operations in enterprise centres in my constituency subsequently became international corporations, to their great credit. From speaking to local statutory agencies I know there is a need for more work space and enterprise centres. The local authorities do not have the resources to do these particular developments. It would be a great investment in the central Border area to advance that proposal the Taoiseach gave the go-ahead to some time ago.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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The Taoiseach has outlined some of the work of the shared island initiative. Dealing with legacy is an important part of the work being done. The British Labour Government has committed to changes but no agreement has been reached yet, and there are a number of areas where families have been seeking answers and where the Government here has a role to play. I ask in particular about the issue of Denis Donaldson. His family have been seeking answers and the case has of course been highlighted recently. He was murdered in 2006 in Donegal. His inquest has been adjourned 27 times over 19 years. The Minister for justice recently pointed out there is a Garda investigation under way, but his family are seeking an inquiry. I understand they have written to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for justice. What is the position of the Government on this matter and does it have any plans to meet the family? I think the family’s solicitor has pointed out they do not qualify as victims under the legacy Act so they are in a very particular position. What is the Taoiseach’s position on their request to meet him?

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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A shared island should not have an invisible hard border for non-EU migrants, but that is the case currently. I have raised this multiple times. In the past a somewhat sympathetic hearing was given to the likes of the North West Migrants Forum.

In this atmosphere of performative cruelty by the Government on migration, I fear it will not make any moves on this. I would be interested to hear it.

I follow up on the question raised by Deputy Coppinger. We are talking about primary school kids being taken out of their home, other children who go to school with them being traumatised, the principal talking about the impact this is having, and then the Minister, let us be clear, goes onto social media and boasts about it. It is Trump-like. That is who Jim O'Callaghan is aping, trying to look hard on migration and trying to problematise migration to distract from the failures of the Government. I have one question. It has been reported in some places that at least some of the children being deported were born in Ireland. Is that the case?

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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There were worrying and horrific scenes in Ballymena last night of hundreds, potentially thousands, of people gathering. It would appear some racist attacks were committed on homes. It follows an alleged serious sexual assault on a teenage girl, and I extend my solidarity to that girl and her family. Two teens have been accused, and as soon as it became potentially the case that they were non-nationals or were from another country, these crowds gathered in what is becoming a familiar pattern in the North, the South, in the UK, etc. First, I condemn the attacks that appear to have taken place on the homes of non-nationals, including a Filipino family. We have to come out and make this clear. Gender-based violence is gendered violence. It has nothing to do with nationality. Northern Ireland has an horrific history of violence against women - a native history. According to a recent Ulster University survey, 98% of women there have experienced at least one form of violence in their lives. It has the second highest femicide rate in the EU. The PSNI says there is a domestic violence report every 16 minutes. Unless those facts are brought out north and south of the Border, racists will continue to use this issue to stir up the racism they want. We need real action on gendered violence.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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That is why it is invisible. It does not affect most people.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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But they do not see it as a hard border.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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For a migrant it is.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have been criticised on the opposite side, on the other side of the scale. There have to be rules around migration. I think the Deputy's view is that there should not be, which is fair enough and he is entitled to have a view, but I think his view is that there should not be any rules at all.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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These are EU migrants who are legally present in the North and cannot travel to the South. That is the point I am making.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is not sustainable. I thought he was talking about asylum seekers coming North and South.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Not in that part of my question.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Anybody who is legally resident in Northern Ireland can travel to the South.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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No, they cannot. That is why it is a hard border.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We have reached the point where we have to move to the next piece of business.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Coppinger raised an important issue. Gender-based violence is not nationality focused, or exclusive to any person irrespective of race, creed or colour. It is something we need collectively to rid out of society. It takes a lot of work. We have policies relating to it in this Government. As Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, did a lot of good work in this area. Her successor, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, is following up on that. Under the shared island initiative, we have a joint programme on gender-based violence with Northern Ireland to try to develop a programme to educate and get awareness of the issue.