Alan Farrell
Ceist:9. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Taoiseach his views on the outcomes of his recent meeting with the shared island youth forum. [1438/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 24 January 2024
Ceisteanna (9, 10, 11)
Brendan Smith
Ceist:10. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report his attendance at the recent shared island youth forum. [57118/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:11. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of his Department's shared island unit. [2745/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí ó Béal (5 píosaí cainte)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, together.
Through the shared island initiative, the Government is engaging with all communities to build a consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The Government has so far allocated almost €250 million from the shared island fund. This includes contributing to the expansion of higher education infrastructure in the north west, with funding for a new teaching building at Ulster University in Derry, and progressing the Ulster Canal restoration in the central Border region. The Government has also introduced new programmes that bring people together throughout the island, including through the community climate action scheme, the Creative Ireland programme and the shared island civic society fund.
I will open the third annual shared island forum on 8 February in Dublin Castle and will set out then the Government’s priorities for the initiative in the year ahead.
I met with members of the shared island youth forum in Dublin on 7 December. Since September, the forum has been bringing together 80 young people aged 18 to 25, who are meeting regularly over the course of a year to develop and to set out their vision and values for a shared future on the island. The forum members were all born after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. They are dedicated to using the forum as an opportunity to give voice to their generation, and to help to influence how we share the island of Ireland into the future. I look forward to the forum’s outcome statement later this year.
The shared island dialogue series is continuing with more than 3,300 citizens and civic representatives having participated in the past three years. The Tánaiste spoke at the most recent event in October on the theme of accommodating national identities. The shared island research programme is also continuing, with 30 publications so far examining the island in economic, cultural, social and political terms. The next ESRI shared island report examines housing supply factors and will be launched on 31 January.
Finally, I want to recognise the serious challenges for the people of Northern Ireland and for the Good Friday Agreement with the continuing absence of the power-sharing institutions for almost two years now. The Government will continue to work to see the return of the power-sharing institutions. Under all scenarios we will also continue to develop opportunities to take forward all-island investment and co-operation and to deepen both North-South and east-west relationships, in accordance with the objectives and commitments of the Good Friday Agreement.
I thank the Taoiseach for his response. I very much welcome the initiative of the shared island forum. I very much welcome the agreements and expenditures to date. My focus in this particular question is related to the youth forum. The forum is a wonderful opportunity for the 80 young people the Taoiseach mentioned because their voice is so important. The decisions that we make on a weekly basis, and in the Taoiseach's case on a daily basis, will affect those individuals for many years to come. It is important that their voice is incorporated into our decision-making processes. I would be very interested to see the form and shape of their deliberations and the outcome statement that is to be issued later in the year. Perhaps in his further response the Taoiseach will provide me with an idea of how the young people are engaging. I understand there is a broad range of subject matter and a broad range of individuals that are represented across gender, ethnic, community, faith and other diversities, which of course is most welcome. The all-island focus of the forum will be an opportunity for political parties on both sides of the Border to reflect on the fact there is an absence of power sharing in the North, which is very regrettable. Will those youth forum members discuss that impasse in power sharing?
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. As has been said on many occasions in this House, the shared island initiative is very welcome. My constituency of Cavan-Monaghan is benefiting through investment, for example with the Ulster Canal and also through committed investment in the further development of the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark. It is the first UNESCO-recognised cross-border geopark in the world, encompassing parts of Cavan and parts of Fermanagh. This initiative and investment with the shared island local authority scheme will promote in a big way local tourism and biodiversity.
Ms Gina McIntyre of the Special EU Programmes Body was before the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement recently. We discussed the very valuable PEACEPLUS programme, with €1.4 billion provided by our Government, the British Government and the European Union. Since the mid-1990s when Albert Reynolds, John Hume and Jacques Delors put in place the first PEACE programme, €3.39 billion has been invested in those programmes. It has been hugely important. As a person who represents two southern Ulster counties I see the benefits of that investment in every parish, village and town.
As I have said in the past, we need to ensure we reach the really hard-to-reach groups so they are given an opportunity to participate and draw down benefits from these programmes. We always see the better resourced groups being able to avail of new schemes. I am thinking of the disadvantaged communities where there may not be the know-how or expertise to put in very significant applications. There must be a focus on ensuring everybody, including the most deprived, benefit from these welcome initiatives.
Has the Government had any interaction with eBay? There is talk about the possibility of 1,000 job cuts worldwide. We are aware that 900 people are employed here in Ireland so it is a worry for a huge number of people.
We have spoken many times about the shared island unit. All of us welcome the capital projects, in particular. I refer to the Narrow Water Bridge project in my constituency. We know that more groups are now aware of these and availing of them. I agree with Deputy Smith that as with all funding streams, a piece of work needs to be done around those groups who might not have the capacity to be able to deliver upon this.
What has been the Taoiseach's interaction with the DUP and others? Hopefully we are coming to a point where they will bring themselves in from the cold and we can have an Executive up and running.
With regard to the shared island dialogue, the Taoiseach will not be shocked to know that I would believe into the future we need to find the means for dialogue on the possibilities of Irish unity. That piece of planning still needs to be done by this Government.
I thank Deputy Farrell for raising the shared island youth forum. It has been really good success. I had a chance to meet with them in Dublin a few months ago. It brings together 80 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who are meeting over the course of a year to set out their vision and values for a shared future. There are 40 young people from the North and 40 from the South, and there is balance in terms of gender, ethnicity, community, faith and other identity diversities. The forum focuses on five themes of sustainability, opportunity, well-being, equality and cultural identity. There have been five meetings so far, both North and South, and the next meeting will be on Friday in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The forum is organised by the shared island unit in partnership with the National Youth Council of Ireland and Youth Action Northern Ireland. When I had a chance to meet with the forum members, they certainly shared with me their various views on the particular political impasse occurring in the North but we have not made it a focus of the forum really because we want them to think long term rather than about the current political difficulties.
Deputy Smith spoke about the geopark, which I had a chance to visit as Minister for tourism a long time ago. It is really great to see that develop. It will be a fabulous asset and amenity. Indeed, it already is.
I agree with Deputy Smith's comments on PEACEPLUS and its predecessor programmes and the billions of euro that have been invested in Northern Ireland and the Border counties. The Deputy encouraged us to reach out to the hard-to-reach groups, areas and communities. I totally agree with that. It can be difficult to do this with any government funding scheme, be it sports capital or a community scheme, not just in Northern Ireland and the Border areas. Better organised, better equipped and better skilled volunteer groups find it easier to apply for money and then find it easier to draw it down. That does not make it okay. It actually puts an additional obligation on us, as the people in office, and on our civil servants and assistants to reach out to those communities that may not have the skills or stability, or who struggle with the governance issues, to make sure that money goes to where it is needed most. This, of course, is easier said than done.
On the issue of eBay and the potential redundancies there, I have not had any personal contact with the company. That relationship would be managed by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and by IDA Ireland. If they have not been in contact, I am sure they will. Obviously we need to make sure that any redundancies are minimised, that they are voluntary rather than compulsory if possible, and that a package is put in place for any staff who lose their jobs.
With regard to the situation in Northern Ireland, we have ongoing engagement with the five major political parties in the North. Certainly when it comes to the issue of the Executive and the Assembly being re-established, the DUP would strongly believe it is very much a strand 1 issue in which the Irish Government has no role. We respect that view even if we do not agree with it. It is the establishment of the Executive and the Assembly that will allow the North-South ministerial bodies to function. Strand 2 is dependent on strand 1 operating.
We are very keen to be of assistance in any way we can. If the assembly and the Executive are re-established we want to make sure they are successful and sustainable. This is why we are willing to help in any way that we can.
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