Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

96. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he or his Department have had recent discussions with the authorities in Northern Ireland on cross-Border projects which maybe affected by Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38599/18]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Rural and Community Development is a member of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC). However, his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has primary responsibility with respect to the North South Ministerial Council relating to Agriculture and Rural Development. 

The North South Ministerial Council has been unable to meet since the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed in January 2017, and specifically because of the continuing absence of a First and deputy First Minister, who, acting jointly, are required to satisfy a number of statutory requirements in respect of NSMC Meetings.

While formal NSMC official-level Working Groups, whose primary purpose is to prepare for NSMC Ministerial meetings in the areas of cooperation, are also not taking place, officials from Departments in both jurisdictions have continued to work together in line with the previously agreed work programme of cooperation.

My officials have continued therefore to engage with their counterparts in relation to progressing projects under the co-operation measure under the current LEADER programme and within the North West Strategic Growth Partnership initiative being progressed by both Donegal Local Authority and Derry City Council.

My Department is also a Designated Accountable Department under the PEACE IV programme for Peace and Reconciliation. My colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, has overall responsibility for the PEACE Programme and any related BREXIT discussions. 

The North South cooperation we enjoy today brings tangible benefits to the daily lives of people in the border region and across the island. It contributes to economic opportunity and development. It is also a very practical outworking of the peace process which allows for the normalisation of relationships between people across the island, to mutual benefit. 

It is for these reasons that the Government has prioritised the protection of the Good Friday Agreement in all its part, and the gains of the peace process, along with the avoidance of a hard border, in the Brexit negotiations.

I earnestly hope that a new administration can be put in place in Northern Ireland soon and I look forward to engaging with my counterpart in Northern Ireland at an early date in the future on issues of common interest within my Department's remit.