Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 154: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has received a copy of the SDLP's recently published North South Makes Sense document; the efforts he is making to progress North-South economic and social development while the institutions created under the Good Friday Agreement are in abeyance; the areas he wishes to prioritise in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6988/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the SDLP North South Makes Sense document launched on 13 February. It represents a positive contribution to the agenda of North-South co-operation and the development of the all-island economy. I agree wholeheartedly with the document's proposition that North-South co-operation makes sense, and will be closely examining the SDLP proposals on how we might take this process further. The Government's objective is the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the restoration of the institutions, including the North-South Ministerial Council. This would greatly enhance the excellent work undertaken by the North-South bodies, as well as facilitating the development of North-South co-operation to the mutual benefit of both parts of the island.

Over the past 12 months, in the context of giving an enhanced impetus to North-South co-operation, the Taoiseach and I have brought two comprehensive memoranda to Government in this area. All relevant Departments, in conjunction with my Department, undertook comprehensive reviews of the scope for co-operation in their areas of responsibility. Key North-South objectives and projects were identified. These cover a wide range of areas including measures to develop co-operation on infrastructure and spatial planning, telecommunications, energy, transport, as well as co-operation on cross-Border public services such as health and education.

My Department, in accordance with its overall co-ordination role, and the Department of the Taoiseach, are working closely to assist Departments in advancing these objectives via the established North-South channels and in close contact with the British Government. In addition, I have reviewed the potential for progress in a series of meetings with the private sector, including the IBEC-CBI joint business council, the North-South roundtable group and the Northern Ireland Business Alliance, as well as setting out our thinking in a number of public speeches to interested groups. Work is also going forward on a North-South basis to identify opportunities for co-operation to foster economic development on a co-ordinated basis in the north west.

The development of North-South co-operation has a high priority in our consultations with the British Government. At the most recent British Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 1 February, Secretary of State Hain and I announced a comprehensive study to identify areas where future co-operation would deliver mutual benefits. This study will draw on the joint contribution we have prepared under the revised Lisbon strategy. The study will examine further ways of developing all-island economic co-operation and will consider issues such as skills, research and development and innovation, competitiveness, business development, trade promotion and investment. The conference also welcomed the recent initiative by Government to include Northern Ireland businesses in the trade delegation accompanying the Taoiseach to India in January 2006 and agreed that further opportunities for joint trade promotion would be explored. In addition, we agreed that there is significant potential for further co-operation on a range of infrastructure and spatial planning issues. Responsible Departments and agencies-regulators are identifying further projects for co-operation and will report to the BIIGC on progress within the next six months.