Mick Barry
Question:1. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach the extent to which he expects to develop the shared island initiative in the context of the resumption of the Assembly. [7450/24]
View answerWednesday, 21 February 2024
Questions (1, 2, 3, 4)
Brendan Smith
Question:2. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the third shared island forum; and the priorities under the shared island initiative in 2024. [7791/24]
View answer
Cathal Crowe
Question:3. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the third shared island forum; and the priorities under the shared island initiative in 2024. [7799/24]
View answer
Paul McAuliffe
Question:4. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the third shared island forum; and the priorities under the shared island initiative in 2024. [7800/24]
View answerOral answers (5 contributions)
Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 4, go huile, le chéile.
Yesterday, Tuesday, 20 February, the Government confirmed a range of funding allocations which affirm our commitment to working with the new Executive and the UK Government to implement cross-Border investment co-operation that will make the island of Ireland a better place to live for all communities. This is the largest ever package of Government funding for cross-Border investments, and is in addition to the near €250 million already allocated from the shared island fund for more than 15 major projects and programmes. These decisions take forward the Government’s priorities for the initiative in 2024, which I set out in a speech to the third shared island forum earlier this month. Our funding commitments also reflect years of co-operation and partnership by successive British and Irish Governments, and with the Northern Ireland Executive and Departments.
First, the Government has decided to make a commitment of €600 million to the A5 road upgrade to Derry and Donegal. The statutory activities are at an advanced stage in Northern Ireland, and I am told it is feasible that construction on the A5, or at least one section of it, could commence later this year. That is why we are confirming the Government’s contribution now. The Government will also advance planning and design work for the related N2 Clontibret to the Border project and the TEN-T Donegal schemes, which will tie in with the A5. This will bring connectivity in the north west and in Ulster more generally on a par with other parts of the island, North and South.
The Government is also making substantial allocations under the shared island fund. This includes a €50 million contribution to the redevelopment of Casement Park stadium in Belfast. This will help to realise a long-planned sports infrastructure project in the city and maximise the benefit for Northern Ireland from the joint hosting by Ireland and the UK of UEFA Euro 2028. This is a North-South project but it is also an important east-west project, and something we are doing together.
In addition, the Government has decided to move ahead with its long-standing commitment to the Narrow Water bridge between the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth and south County Down. We believe the contract for this could be signed as soon as next month.
New co-operation schemes are being developed in the areas of education and enterprise, including female entrepreneurship. The introduction of an hourly peak-time rail service from Dublin to Belfast will almost double existing service capacity and can be done as soon as next year. It will multiply the potential for new business, education and people-to-people connections along the Dublin-Belfast corridor.
The Government has also decided to progress a major investment in a renewed visitor experience at the Battle of the Boyne site to enhance conservation and the heritage and tourism profile of a place of unique historical significance. This includes an allocation in principle of €10 million from the shared island fund.
We are also moving ahead with work to assist a bid for UNESCO world heritage status for the transboundary astronomical observatories of Ireland partnership. Up to €250,000 will be spent on the related feasibility work on how the heritage, tourism and scientific education value of the three sites - at Dunsink, Birr and Armagh - can be harnessed in the years ahead.
The commitments we have made are about realising the potential of all-island investment co-operation, boosting the all-island economy and improving North-South connections. This is about understanding that regardless of whatever the constitutional future of Northern Ireland or Ireland as a whole may be, investing in people, in quality of life and opportunity and in the generations to come is all our responsibility. It is a common good that we can progress by working together. That is the focus of the Government's shared island initiative and we have taken very substantial steps forward.
I warmly welcome the Taoiseach's response and the Government decision yesterday to allocate very substantial funding to a range of projects that will benefit all of our country. I particularly welcome the funding for the N2 scheme between Clontibret and the Border in County Monaghan and the development of the A5, which is a crucial artery in building and strengthening the all-Ireland economy. Thankfully, today we have an all-Ireland economy that is being strengthened. The economy North and South is very interdependent.
At the same time, I would like to see the Ulster final remain in Clones. Cavan has a very good history, having won 40 Ulster titles, by far the most of any county in the province. Many of them were won in Clones. We look forward to winning more Ulster titles in Clones on Ulster final day.
At Question Time yesterday we discussed the potential for collaboration in further and higher education. I am particularly glad that funding was agreed by the Government yesterday for pilot co-operation on educational attainment. In the very dark days of this island, the Wider Horizons programme, funded by the International Fund for Ireland, was very beneficial. The programme brought together groups of young adults between the ages of 18 and 28 from socially and economically disadvantaged areas for training, work experience and personal development. Those young people were involved in projects in America, Australia and Canada, with people from those countries travelling to this island as well. The programme consisted of young people from Northern Ireland and our State. I was very familiar with those projects at the time because a number of them were centred in counties Cavan and Monaghan. Our Oireachtas colleague Senator Diarmuid Wilson, as the Youthreach co-ordinator in County Cavan at that time, was instrumental in putting many of those programmes in place. On a visit about a year ago to the Shankill I met senior loyalists. Some of those leaders said to me that they would love to see us reintroduce the Wider Horizons programme. They told me about individuals from families who had gone on those programmes and were transformed for the better from the point of view of getting skills, getting a job and having a different attitude to the rest of this island. It was transformative for those people and very important for society. From the point of view of education and training, I would love if a programme similar to the Wider Horizons programme could be reconstituted for young people from economically disadvantaged communities North and South.
Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett will speak on behalf of Deputy Mick Barry.
An issue we should bring into the shared island considerations is that of water safety. We have a lot to learn from what is happening in the North and in the UK. It may be of interest to Members to know that 102 people drowned in 2021 in the Republic of Ireland. This is one of the worst rates of drowning in western Europe and three times the rate of drowning in the UK and the North of Ireland. As a lifeguard who came to my office in the last couple of weeks to raise these issues pointed out, one of the reasons is because lifeguards here, for the most part, are only provided for the months of July and August. In the UK they are provided everywhere from Easter to October. In the UK, including Northern Ireland, there is a proper centralised authority, the RNLI, which by the way, is based in Swords but manages Northern Ireland's water safety. It has dramatically improved it. Critically, they are given the equipment they need. A lifeguard here is on the minimum wage and is given a whistle. In the UK and the North, lifeguards are given a whole range of equipment. They are provided with defibrillators, special vehicles to move along coastal and surf areas, radios and so on. As a result of the changes they have made, they have dramatically improved water safety. It is quite alarming that of the 102 deaths that occurred here, just under 50 were of people taking their own lives. If we exclude those figures, as Eurostat does, we have a rate of drowning that is considerably worse than most of the rest of western Europe. It is not even clear who is in charge because when I submit questions about equipment to local authorities, which provide the equipment, those questions are refused because they say Water Safety Ireland is responsible. When I put questions to Water Safety Ireland, it says that the local authorities are responsible for the provision of equipment and the employment of lifeguards. This is a very serious issue of water safety and people's lives. I ask the Taoiseach to look into it and learn from the experience in the North of Ireland.
I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I would like to echo Deputy Smith's comments on the A5. I am really keen that in building the A5, we do not forget about the Donegal TEN-T and the M2 because it is all one project in many ways, or at least it is all the one road, albeit that its name changes when it crosses the Border.
Regarding the Ulster final in Clones, I have never been to the Ulster final but I have been to Dublin matches in Clones. It is not for me to decide whether the final stays there. I hope to get to an Ulster final there long before Casement Park is built, which I think will be a while anyway.
I have heard of the Wider Horizons programme but I am not familiar with it. I will ask a member of my team to contact the Deputy to follow up on it. It might be something we could fund from the shared island fund, unless there is already something similar which has replaced it. I am not 100% sure.
Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the important issue of water safety. As he mentioned, more than 100 people drowned in Ireland last year, which is a very large number. With the Assembly and the Executive operating again, there is an opportunity to have Inland Waterways Ireland, which is a North-South body, working to its full effect. I am always open to learning from other jurisdictions where they do things better than us. I think Inland Waterways Ireland, not the local authorities, is the responsible body. I will double-check that and look into the issue of extending the lifeguard season. I completely agree that they should have whatever equipment they need. They should not have to provide it themselves.