Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2018
71. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if an independent report into the economic benefits a united Ireland economy would bring to the island of Ireland will be considered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30603/18]
View answerWill the Department commission an independent report into the economic benefits a united Ireland economy would bring to the whole of the island? I find it hard to believe that despite partition occurring almost 100 years ago there are no Government reports or analysis on the economic benefits or challenges that reunification of the island would bring. Will Fine Gael, the united Ireland party, commission such an independent report into the economic benefits of a united Ireland?
The economies of Ireland and Northern Ireland are closely connected. An open border has allowed industries of all types to develop in both jurisdictions without constraints. I have had the privilege on a number of occasions during the past year of meeting with some of the enterprises that operate smoothly and successfully on an all-Ireland basis. We know how important the ease of this cross-Border trade is to enterprises based here in Ireland and the Deputy is well aware of Ireland's negotiating position in this regard.
The benefits of free and open trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland are readily apparent to my Department and we have been working, for example through the many InterTradeIreland initiatives, to promote even greater cross-fertilisation of ideas, expertise and sector-specific skills between enterprises and third-level institutes across the island of Ireland. I have no plans to commission research on a united Ireland economy as a speculative approach to such a scenario would not serve the immediate concerns of enterprise policy.
I can point to the informative research my Department has undertaken to inform how we best support enterprises that face particular challenges from Brexit. For example, my Department supported the analysis undertaken by InterTradeIreland for its report on cross-Border trade and supply chain linkages which was published earlier this year. The analysis highlighted the significance of cross-border trade, for example finding that Northern Ireland accounts for between 10% and 12% of total exports from Ireland to the UK as a whole and accounted for 7% to 8% of imports. The report also found that a significant share of cross-Border trade is accounted for by firms that trade simultaneously in both directions. These two-way traders comprise approximately 18% of firms but accounted for more than 60% of exports and more than 70% of imports. Trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland sees 177,000 lorries and 250,000 vans cross the Border every month, ferrying goods from one side to the other. It is very much a case of success for one of us being success for the other.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
InterTradeIreland is one of the six North-South implementation bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement. Its mission is to support businesses through innovation and trade initiatives to take advantage of North-South co-operative opportunities, driving competitiveness, jobs and growth. It has a key role to play in protecting North-South trade in the context of Brexit, as the body is uniquely well positioned when it comes to understanding the needs of businesses on both sides of the Border. My Department provided additional funding last year and again this year to allow InterTradeIreland undertake a range of initiatives aimed at assisting Irish SMEs to prepare for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. This work includes the provision of factual advice, information materials and supports for capability building and the provision of other specialist expertise for companies.
I thank the Minister for her response. I am disappointed she will not commission a report. I appreciate the work she and her Department have done on Brexit so far but this is a separate issue. I have asked this question a number of times. It is an important issue. I find it astonishing that no such Government data are available to us. The Modeling Irish Unification study by Dr. Kurt Hübner was published in 2015. It found the political and economic reunification of Ireland could deliver a €35.6 billion boost in GDP for the island in the first eight years. As the demographics change in the North and as the disaster of Brexit becomes more of a reality, the debate about the reunification of Ireland will continue to intensify. Data on the economic benefits will form a central part of that debate on a united Ireland. There is a responsibility on the Government to provide such data. The Minister will probably come to regret her failure to commission a report. Are there any internal reports or analysis on this topic that can be made available? Has the Department looked into it?
I emphasise the Government is fully committed to the Good Friday Agreement, the principle of consent and the institutions that were established at that time. The need to address economic business development matters on the whole island was recognised and resulted in the establishment of InterTradeIreland, the cross-Border trade and development body.
InterTrade Ireland is one of the six North-South implementation bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement. Its mission is to support businesses, through innovation and trade initiatives, to take advantage of North South co-operative opportunities, driving competitiveness, jobs and growth. InterTrade Ireland has been doing wonderful work in supporting businesses on a cross-Border basis. The Deputy mentioned the Dr. Kurt Hübner report. I am aware of the report and my understanding is that it undertakes some economic analysis of issues arising in the event of the potential unification of Ireland I am also aware that the report's conclusions are based on an economic model and a significant number of assumptions so it would be very difficult to say whether the conclusions of the report on the potential growth boost to the Irish economy would be borne out in practice. There is a significant range of different legal, administrative, regulatory and financial systems in place and Northern Ireland is part of the much larger United Kingdom economy. However, regardless of the political structures in place on the island there is an overwhelming economic case to be made for more economic agreement and I absolutely support and encourage more cross-Border initiatives.
I commend InterTrade Ireland on its work. I have met the staff at their offices in Newry. I encourage the Minister to consider the proposal I have put to her. We cannot rely on private reports for our data. We need Government data. Last year the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation spent more than €1.3 million on 19 reports and to date this year it has spent €650,000 on reports ranging from Brexit to IT security to geocoding. Therefore, I do not think it is unreasonable to ask that a report on the economic benefits of a united Ireland be commissioned. As this is a core objective of Sinn Féin and I assume of Fianna Fáil, the Republican Party and Fine Gael the united Ireland party, this would be money well spent and provide a very valuable insight into the benefits and challenges that reunification would bring.
The reports to which the Deputy refers help inform us to support our enterprise base and help it grow. I prefer to talk about the benefits of a strong all-island partnership. The national development plan contains a full chapter on that. It is a question of building partnership. It is not a question of barriers or using language that inflames. I am from the Border area and I can tell the Deputy that jobs in Fermanagh, Armagh and Tyrone benefit people in Cavan, Monaghan and across the Border area. Jobs in Derry benefit people in Donegal. We trade across the Border every day. I want to see that continue and I want to encourage more of that. I want to develop regional clusters because in the area from which I come there is a very strong engineering tradition and I want to see how we can work together better. We will achieve far more if we collaborate. That is the most important thing.
