Brendan Smith calls for NESC study on central border economy

I thank Aontisioch for his reply. The Progressive Shared Island Initiative is bringing to fruition many cross-border and all-Ireland projects that many of us thought would never be realised. I know that the National Economic and Social Council, the ESRI and some universities have been enabled to carry out very substantial comprehensive studies through shared island funding. I have asked through the office of Aontisioch and in various parliamentary questions if the National Economic and Social Council would undertake a study on the challenges facing the central border region, north and south, and also identify the opportunities for further economic development. I've been a representative in the southern Ulster counties for some time. I saw the challenges with currency fluctuations and the movement of trade that devastated our local economy over many years. We should be prepared for turbulence in the economy that may arise but that nobody can readily predict. The current geopolitical uncertainty clearly shows the economic challenges that can arise from such turbulence. As Aontisioch will know, I see at first hand the value and importance of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as a representative of two southern Ulster counties. Thankfully we have one economy now, the all-Ireland economy, however the central border region of Cavan, Manon, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh is vulnerable because it is highly dependent on a small number of particular sectors such as food, farming, construction products and tourism. I believe that we should undertake comprehensive studies to identify the challenges but also the opportunities to ensure that our central border region is not disadvantaged. Thank you and I ask him to call now. Deputy Smith raised the studies that have been underway by the National Economic and Social Council and the SRI under Shared Island and there's a range of them and I would say that never in the history of the state have we known such a body of research commissioned and completed into the differences between systems in Northern Ireland, be it health service, education, right across the board and republic. So that there's a very good body of research. Now I think you've made a very good suggestion that there would be, that we would task NESC with doing a more fundamental economic social study on the central border economic corridor. I will bring that idea to the Shared Island unit and we'll ask NESC and I'll come back to the Deputy in respect to that. I think it's a positive constructive idea. There are specific challenges in the area in respect of, you say, the regional economic makeup in terms of farming, food and in terms of construction and other areas. So I think we could perhaps design a study for NESC to do on that issue and in that area.