On a point of order, there is no senior Minister present at the moment for this debate. It is a poor sign of how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael treat this subject. The national reunification of the territory needs to be made a priority. It has been 105 years since partition which was created by Britain and created an artificial, sectarian state, which has held back this country, economically, socially and politically for far too long. While I welcome the proposals to move forward on reunification, this Bill is very minimalist and limited. Much more is required than a Green Paper and a citizens' assembly, 105 years after partition. It has been over 28 years since the Good Friday Agreement, which provides for the holding of a referendum on national reunification. Those of us who believe in a united Ireland - and some of us have spent all our adult lives working for a 32-county republic - and those in Fianna Fáil who say they believe in it should step up matters a couple of gears. We need to build a republic where workers and families have their fair share and good public services. The most recent opinion polls show that an increasing number of people North and South see the merits of national reunification. The question now is not can we afford it but can we afford not to reunify the national territory. More and more, the economics of it stack up and make sense. As a small country of just over 7 million people on the north-western flank of Europe, it makes absolutely no economic, social or political sense to continue with a Border that was imposed under threat of immediate and terrible war by a foreign state. There is simply no logic to having 75% of the country in the European Union and the remainder of it excluded. Brexit has exposed the difficulties with that and how ridiculous it is. While the Six Counties remained - just about - in the EU Single Market for trade in goods, they are excluded from the EU and the Single Market in every other way, including having no representation in the European Parliament. I have not heard any party, including the largest Opposition party, raising this, which is surprising. There is no logic to having two currencies, two revenue systems, two sets of Government Departments - 14 in total working back to back - two police services, two transport systems and so on. All of this works against efficiency, co-ordination and economies of scale. A citizens' assembly is a very limited proposal. While I will be supporting the Bill, what we should have is a commission on the future of the nation. This should be representative of the Assembly and the Dáil. All parties, North and South, including the significant number of Independent MLAs and TDs, should have a representative on it. It should hold hearings with various sectors, such as the trade union movement; the agriculture sector; the health sector, North and South, with the aim of creating an all-Ireland national health system; environmental lobbies; local councillors and local government; education; the housing sector; transport; energy and so on. This would be with a view to increasing co-operation in all these areas. We do not need to wait for a Green Paper or a citizens' assembly for this. The Government and all of us, North and South, should be working towards that now. While some work has been done on co-operation, such as on the Narrow Water Bridge, moves towards getting the A5 in place at last and the Ulster Canal, that has to be accelerated, along with a whole lot of other areas, to the benefit of people, North and South. Six all-Ireland bodies were created under the Good Friday Agreement: Waterways Ireland; the Food Safety Promotion Board; InterTradeIreland; An Foras Teanga; Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission and the Special European Union Programmes Body. There is provision for others to be created and this should be pursued. What is the Government doing about it? It does not even have a senior Minister here tonight, never mind the Taoiseach, to listen to this debate.

Sentiment score: 0.09

The all-Ireland energy system is an area for immediate co-operation and priority, in particular in the area of renewables. The North-South Interconnector should not be delayed any further. Parties that say they are for a united Ireland cannot have it both ways, on the one hand championing a united Ireland and on the other hand frustrating the construction of this vital North-South infrastructure. A reunified Ireland has to be based on social justice, where workers and families are protected, with good public services in an inclusive republic. It has to be the republic of Fintan Lalor and Connolly more so than the republic of Griffith. It is long past time and we need to move it on and get on with it.

Sentiment score: 0.37