Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to take this Adjournment matter in my capacity as a Minister of State also based at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

While the economies of Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland may have many differences the global competitive challenges faced by business enterprises in both jurisdictions are the same. It is appropriate that we should jointly address those challenges where there is mutual benefit to be achieved.

One of the outcomes from the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland is the opening up of opportunity to pursue mutually beneficial cross-Border co-operation on aspects of economic policy, infrastructure and spatial planning. The Agreement set out a new vision for the island of Ireland and the institutions established under the Agreement have shown the benefits that can be derived from all-island collaboration. The Agreement facilitates the development of specific initiatives that can exploit the combined attributes of "paired" urban centres on each side of the border. The north west gateway initiative that was launched in 2006 is a joint North-South approach to the development of the north west and provides a strategic action plan to further develop this region of the island.

In economic terms, Ireland is distinguished for the quality of our national capabilities, innovation, creativity and success in attracting foreign direct investment. IDA Ireland is experienced in the work of promoting inward investment and is constantly moving its focus and direction in response to both local economic development needs in Ireland and to the changing nature of foreign direct investment globally. To support its mission and promote balanced regional development, IDA Ireland works closely with other agencies on the island to promote the island of Ireland as an investment location for mutual benefit.

Any proposal to capitalise on or to increase our ability to advance this agenda will be considered carefully by my Department and agencies under its remit. In this context, I am aware that, only last week, a speculative outline proposal for an IDA Ireland business park, to be located on the Donegal side of the Derry-Donegal border, designed to attract foreign direct investment, was received by the Southern Joint Secretariat of the North-South Ministerial Council. This proposal has only come to the attention of my Department and has been forwarded to IDA Ireland for examination and consideration. The Senator can rest assured that this proposal will be given due consideration by the agency.

In this regard one of the most significant developments in recent years has been the close co-operation between IDA Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland in the north west leading to the creation of the Virtual Cross Border Technology Park linking Letterkenny and Derry. This process commenced in 2000 when both State agencies worked together to market the north west of Ireland, namely, Donegal and Derry, to prospective foreign direct investment as a cross-Border park. This cross-Border project was approved EU Structural funding of €10 million by the Interreg Steering Committee, under the Interreg IIIA Programme for Ireland and Northern Ireland, 2000 to 2006.

The fundamental concept of the virtual park was to capitalise on the combined strengths of Letterkenny and Derry as an economic corridor. The aim of the park initiative was to exploit the improved political environment in Northern Ireland to develop an economic corridor of scale in the Letterkenny-Derry area that would act as a catalyst for the economic development of the entire north west region.

A key focus of the virtual park has been to generate an urban location of scale by developing initiatives that allow Letterkenny and Derry to effectively operate, as much as is practical, as one economic entity. The corridor has a population of approximately 120,000 with a hinterland of 300,000 to 400,000. This mirrors the Cork region in terms of population. In addition, it aims to build a substantial resource of new high quality property solutions on both sides of the Border and to develop an integrated, high quality, high capacity and resilient telecoms network, capable of meeting the most demanding needs of both existing and new prospective foreign direct investment and indigenous industry companies. The project also aims to develop a strong level of participation by the various third level education and research institutions within the Letterkenny-Derry corridor, in initiatives and projects that form close collaborative links with industry and build research and development capability in targeted areas.

Improvements to the road infrastructure connecting the properties are being conducted as part of the virtual park in both Letterkenny and Derry. Some key elements of the virtual park initiative have not yet been completed, such as the completion of the property elements by both IDA Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland before the end of 2008 Interreg deadline and the finalisation and implementation of a marketing and promotional strategy that maximises the image of the virtual park. A comprehensive study on the all-island economy in 2006, which was commissioned by the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, recognised the need for driving North-South co-operation and identified a number of areas where co-ordinated policy intervention would prove beneficial to both jurisdictions. The areas identified included co-operation on trade and investment promotion, research and development and the development of the knowledge economy, education and training systems to enhance human capital, and co-ordinated provision of key transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructure.

While the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland offer different packages to attract foreign direct investment, it is in the interest of both jurisdictions to co-operate on an island of Ireland basis where there is mutual advantage, including through collaboration between the enterprise development agencies, North and South. IDA Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland agree that the ongoing development of the business environment is critical and that a common working agenda in the areas of skills enhancement and infrastructure provision should be pursued in the interests of attracting foreign direct investment to the island.

In addition to the virtual cross-Border technology park, this co-operation between the enterprise development agencies is evident in a number of ways. Each year the boards of IDA Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland meet to review and discuss issues of mutual concern. On 15 February 2008 the chairmen and chief executives of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland attended a lunch meeting hosted by Dr. Martin McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin. The meeting discussed potential areas for co-operation and mutual benefit and provided a useful forum for discussion of economic development and cross-Border co-operation between the agencies.

IDA Ireland, along with the other development agencies, is also available to assist with plans for the forthcoming conference on US investment in Northern Ireland to be held in Belfast on 8 and 9 May and IDA Ireland officials in the United States have already provided help on the ground to the Northern Ireland bureau in Washington.

I am confident that the efforts and hard work of Governments, both North and South, together with the hard work and co-operation of the agencies on the ground will continue to build on the foundations that have already been laid arising from the peace dividend and will see continued improvements in terms of jobs and infrastructure for the people on both sides of the Border.