I thank Deputy Gould sincerely for bringing forward this very timely issue. Supporting the all-island economy is a priority for the Government. This continues to grow, with figures for cross-Border trade now at over €17.2 billion. The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement help us co-operate with and understand one another, North and South, east and west, for the benefit of all the citizens of these islands. Since the restoration of the institutions in 2024, the North-South Ministerial Council has met 49 times across different formats to facilitate practical North-South co-operation in a breadth of areas. The Department of foreign affairs also continues to engage with business and stakeholders on North-South issues. The all-island economy is also supported by the Windsor Framework, which protects the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and provides certainty for people and businesses across the island of Ireland. It ensures that Northern Ireland retains access to the EU’s Single Market for goods, and, crucially, avoids a hard border on the island of Ireland. The Government also invests in the all-island economy through the shared island initiative which is enhancing co-operation, connection, and mutual understanding. Since 2020, over € 1 billion has been allocated to a range of major cross-Border projects and programmes. Last week, the Government announced €377 million in shared-island funding, including for major infrastructure investments in transport, energy and health. The shared island initiative engages with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future, regardless of whatever shape future constitutional change may take on the island, or between these islands. The Government has always stated that in the event of a future referendum, within the consent provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, it will make all necessary preparations in accordance with the terms of the Constitution and the principles and procedures of the agreement. I look forward to working through some of these issues with the Deputy over the next few minutes.

Sentiment score: 0.37

I will try to answer this as much politically as well as from a departmental and ministerial point of view. I acknowledge the Deputy's comments in relation to the Tánaiste's announcement in recent days. The name of my party is Fine Gael, or The United Ireland Party. I have been speaking about this for my entire political career. I go back to Dr. Garret FitzGerald's book Towards a New Ireland from 1972 and his work on bringing about an Anglo-Irish Agreement over 40 years ago that gave Dublin a say. I participated at many meetings of Ireland's Future. Just last week our former party leader and iar-Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, spoke at an SDLP conference, which was very well attended. I do not disagree with the principle of a citizens' assembly. I believe that we will not oppose the Sinn Féin Private Members' business next week. There were two motions in the last calendar year in the Seanad and the Dáil that the Government did not oppose. I believe a citizens' assembly should be held after the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has deemed that a poll is necessary. In that window, where the Secretary of State says a poll is needed and before that happens, we should have the citizens' assembly. We would use the workings of that citizens' assembly to make sure that when people go to vote in the referendum, there are two clear objectives. I am not looking to be confrontational or political about it but I fear that if we had a citizens' assembly now, there would 50% attendance and we would not have the richness of conversation as opposed having a citizens' assembly where people knew there would be a legally binding referendum and a vote. People would play their part and would know what they were voting on. That is my opinion on it but I would welcome a conversation on it, if that makes sense.

Sentiment score: 0.20

Just to clarify, it is not a matter of waiting for someone. It is the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Ultimately, the responsibility to deem whether a border poll is necessary lies with the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. That is just a legal fact. Deputy Gould and I might not like it but we cannot fight it. It is not a matter of waiting. In my opinion, it is a period to use those two years to learn from the lessons of Brexit and the Scottish independence referendum and identify the issues. I look forward to speaking on Sinn Féin's Private Members' Bill next week from both a personal point of view and a ministerial point of view. The conversation has long since started - we all know that - but since the post-Brexit years it has stepped into a very different space for a lot of individuals on this island, who perhaps were not at that stage and have been facilitated in more non-confrontational aspects to do that. From my party's point of view, that is certainly what we want to bring forward. Our vision of unity will probably be different from Deputy Gould's vision of unity but that is okay, and that is something people need to realise in due course. To go back to the key point of the all-island economy and the here and now, that is where the Government has the immediate responsibility to develop those very tangible links such as when Senator Conor Murphy, as the then Minister for the Economy of Northern Ireland, and I set up the first all-island trade mission. These are the sort of things we need to work on in the here and now.

Sentiment score: 0.12

I am very grateful to Deputy Ó Fearghaíl for raising an issue and a country that, perhaps, never receives the sort of attention it deserves. The Government's international development programme, Irish Aid, works globally to support the furthest behind first, focusing the major part of our official development assistance on the world's least developed countries. Nepal is classified as a least developed country. We have a number of multi-annual commitments in place for assistance in Nepal, and funding levels are expected to stay largely stable for the duration of these commitments. Through the main funding mechanism for Irish-based international development organisations, Ireland's civil society partnership for a better world, we are providing €270,000 annually for Action Aid Ireland’s work in Nepal. This work addresses the structural causes of gender-based violence, promotes women’s empowerment and leadership and helps address the impact of climate change. Through the civil society fund, we are providing €300,000 to support the work of smaller Irish organisations active in Nepal. These include the Irish Red Cross, the Nepal Leprosy Trust and the Social and Health Education Project. I have met two of those in very recent months when we brought the organisations specifically working on leprosy together at the Irish Aid offices in Limerick. Their projects focus on promoting social inclusion as well as improving health and well-being for the most vulnerable, including people affected by leprosy. Capacity-strengthening supports are also provided. Through our partnership with Misean Cara, which supports missionaries working to empower those left furthest behind, Ireland also provides support to education. In 2025, just under €94,000 in Irish Aid funding was allocated by Misean Cara for projects seeking to address school dropout rates among marginalised communities and children with disabilities in one of the most isolated districts of Nepal, as well as providing education on non-communicable diseases. Through the embassy in New Delhi, which is accredited to Nepal, support was also provided to five smaller projects. These were focused on empowering people with disabilities, mental health, women and girls, and promotion of local economic growth through environmentally sustainable work. In 2025, total development assistance to Nepal through these channels amounted to €700,000.

Sentiment score: 0.34

It is really important to mention that over the last number of years Nepal has, unfortunately, been the victim of a number of very serious natural disasters. In 2023, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck, killing 153 people and injuring 400, at which time Ireland, through the Red Cross and Red Crescent, contributed to an EU aid package of €2 million. In April 2015, a more devastating earthquake of 7.2 magnitude struck just north west of Kathmandu. It was the worst in 80 years and over 8,700 people died. In response, Ireland directly provided €1.6 million in humanitarian response. I note the Deputy's comment that, following very real youth protests and what was a sort of Gen z movement, we saw in March the election of 275 members and a new Prime Minister, a man younger than me, from the national independent party. I actually met his predecessor this week last year in Seville. The undertaking, regardless of who the leadership comprises in Nepal, is that Ireland will continue to be a partner at a bilateral level and also, crucially, at a European level and there is a great opportunity for that in due course.

Sentiment score: -0.25

This will bring me to a broader section but I want to very much keep Nepal in the mind's eye because it is a key partner of the EU and one of the main areas where the EU provides supports is in the area of good governance, which would be of great support to the new, young parliament. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl described issues in relation to migration, remittances and poverty. There are over 3,000 Nepalese citizens here in the Republic and only 40 Irish citizens in Nepal, who are mainly doing voluntary and missionary work in the aid sector. It comes back to the whole area of development co-operation, which is an area completely under attack. We are living at a time when the EU and its member states represent over 50% of global development co-operation and if we throw in Britain and Norway, that rises to two thirds. That is due not just to the decision of the United States but to many other actors and that is having a direct consequence. Over the next number of months, there is a real weight on the shoulders of Ireland to develop huge progress on agreeing an EU budget, the multi-annual financial framework. Key to that is making sure that the ring-fenced commitment to development co-operation and humanitarian aid is supported and that that, in turn, will support countries like Nepal.

Sentiment score: 0.23