Dublin.

Sentiment score: 0.00

Last week, the Dáil debated Irish unity during Opposition time and today, the conversation continues on Government time. This is a welcome and positive step. The conversation about our constitutional future is moving forward and it is right that the Government begins the serious work of planning for constitutional change now. Across Ireland, more and more people are engaging in this discussion and asking what a united Ireland could mean for their families, communities and future generations. The national conversation is well under way and it is important that it is informed, inclusive and focused on the opportunities that lie ahead. I welcome the fact that the Government is recognising this by scheduling this debate on the economics of Irish unity today. However, last week, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents failed in their duty and their constitutional obligations to make preparations for unity. The debacle arising from Brexit is all the evidence you need to plan for the future. Fail to prepare and prepare to fail. In fairness, the biggest question I get when we discuss Irish unity is around how we are going to afford it. It is a genuine concern for the ordinary people I have conversations with on this island. It is based on the British subvention and the figures that are being bandied about. The figures frequently quoted as representing the British Government's annual subvention to the North is a British accounting exercise. For the purpose of this debate, any figures I reference will be in euro. The total subvention includes central British Government costs allocated to the North that would not be relevant to a united Ireland and here is why. The subvention from the British Exchequer to the North was €16 billion in 2023. Recent analysis shows that the true deficit that would transfer to a united Ireland is approximately €1.7 billion. To put that in context, that is about 13% of the Apple tax money. The 2027 budget in the South will be over €125 billion, so the cost to the Irish State will only be 1.4% of the overall budget. The single biggest factor of the British subvention to the North is pensions, which is around €6.8 billion. The cost of pensions is unlikely to transfer to a new Ireland. Many people living in Ireland already receive British pensions because they have worked in Britain and now they live here. The second largest part of the subvention is the €4.1 billion that relates to public debt. Ireland would have no legal liability to pay any part of this. The cost of defence and international relations is approximately €2.7 billion and almost none of this expenditure relates to activity taking place in the North. This expenditure would not be carried over into a new Irish State. Taxes that are raised in the North would also now revert to a united Ireland. This includes taxes that are currently collected by Westminster, which would be used for the benefit of everybody on this island. What is often overlooked are the economic benefits of a united Ireland. An all-island, all-Ireland economy would have huge benefits and would allow our nations to thrive once we remove the shackles of partition. Partition has failed everybody on this island. It has not allowed us, as a nation, to reach our full potential. I also think it is important that we take the current financial situation in the North seriously. It is always disappointing when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael use the North as a stick to beat Sinn Féin. Even the Labour Party used this tactic this week. The Six Counties have been held back from reaching their full potential because they have not seen the necessary investment. Westminster holds the purse strings. The devolved institutions can only work with the budget that the British Government allocates to them, yet Sinn Féin as the lead party in the Assembly is working tirelessly to deliver for all the communities in the North. That does not stop Micheál Martin or Simon Harris from bringing in clippings or printouts and standing up in the Dáil with a big "gotcha" moment. That is beneath them. The people of the North deserve more respect than that. My colleagues in the Assembly would love to have the huge surpluses that the Government in the South has in every budget but they spend every single penny on the people in the North. If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want to criticise us, our tactics and what we do up in the North, I suggest that they run candidates in the elections there next year.

Sentiment score: 0.12