Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein)

I agree with the proposition put forward by my colleague, Senator Clonan.

I draw attention to some of the work that is already going on in relation to that, albeit at a lower level. I very much welcome the announcement by Queen’s University Belfast and Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, yesterday of the creation of the first all-island university college, which is a very exciting proposition. As someone who lives not far from DkIT and who represents communities in that Border area, I am keen to ensure that they have access to the best opportunities on their doorstep. More importantly, this could be the first step towards a more consistent and accessible education system across the island. My party colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú, has raised this with the Taoiseach and he has indicated support from the Government for it. I very much look forward to this development.

That coincides with evidence given to us at a meeting of the Good Friday Agreement committee earlier this week by the all-Ireland congenital heart disease research programme and the All-Ireland Cancer Research Institute on some of the terrific work that has been going on at an all-Ireland level in the area of health. Those joint services have contributed to stopping people from having to go off the island for critical medical interventions. This is particularly the case for children with heart disease. Services on both sides of the Border have moved to a position where they are now world leading due to the collaboration that has been undertaken in the last ten to 15 years. Professor Frank Casey, who gave evidence to the committee, suggested that developments in congenital heart disease can be replicated in other areas of medicine. Last week in the North, the chair of the British Medical Association, BMA, the association for GPs, was arguing for an all-island GP service to become available. Discussions at the committee outlined the benefits of collaboration in research, including the economic benefits, in terms of protecting life but also improving quality of life and enabling people to continue to make an economic contribution. The case is very well made and has been underpinned by support from the shared island initiative, which is very welcome and beneficial. The evidence is clear, not just in terms of the health benefits but also in terms of the economic benefits across the island. What we really need to see is Departments coming together to provide a consistent approach across all areas of medicine that require this type of collaboration. I ask the Leader to raise this with the Minister for Health and to arrange a debate in this Chamber on collaboration between the Departments of health, North and South, in the interests of all of the people that we serve across this island, in terms of both the health and economic benefits.