Ireland of Equals Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Expanding the GFA - Current Areas of Co-operation

Expansion Of Existing Areas Of Co-Operation

Sinn Fein calls for the expansion of existing areas of departmental co-operation. We recognise that the expansion of these areas is by way of reinforcing and building on already existing cooperation, as a transitional and important step towards All Ireland government. But we also see this expansion as indispensable co-operation in areas where most serious common problems face Ireland North and South (in particular in Health, Education and Transport). We also see an all Ireland approach increasingly as a necessity in face of current and developing political realities of an Ireland within the EU, (especially in the areas of Agriculture, Environment and Tourism).

(1) Expanding the Area of co-operation on Health

Health services in the North and the South of Ireland are in crisis. Increasingly we are seeing Ireland drift into an apartheid health provision where those with independent means, who can afford private health, get treatment and those without go without.

It is a common problem across Ireland, which needs to be dealt with in an All Ireland basis, which recognises the basic human right to health care for all, irrespective of income. There are common problems - shortage of doctors and nurses, appalling work schedules for doctors and nurses, top heavy administrative bureaucracies in the health services, lack of access to non-specialist medical treatments locally - to name but a few of the common problems - which need to be taken on jointly by the ministers working in co-operation to solve common problems.

Two separate health services are an anachronism. In terms of economies of scale, and of efficiency and effectiveness, there are many good reasons for the health services on this island to operate in a far more co-ordinated fashion than is currently the case.

In 1999 the All Ireland Institute of Public Health was established. This is an important direction which needs developed. Some of the areas first identified as areas calling out for Departmental co-operation included contacts between the Social Security Agency and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, and a call for the Regional Hospital Services Group to consider opportunities for developing partnerships. The case for an all Ireland Ambulance Service, including Helicopter Service has been established. It waits on Ministerial co-operation to implement it.

There is an obvious and crying need to rationalise medical cards such that patients in border counties have access either side of the border to the nearest medical facilities. There is equally great need to standardise remuneration for hospital staff, including consultants, doctors, nurses, and paramedics, and thereby equalise numbers employed.

The Memorandum of Understanding between Health Ministers from the 6 Counties, from the 26 Counties and the USA to establish an All-Ireland infrastructure for cancer research and clinical cancer investigations is path breaking. It marks the way forward, through departmental co-operation for the development of all Ireland health structures capable of reaching the forefront of health care research and treatment. Co-operation between Departments makes this a real possibility.

Developing Existing Commitments of Areas of Co-operation

At the AIMC plenary meeting of 28th June 2002, Ministers made a number of commitments to developing areas of co-operation, among them some relating to health. Since that date, we have seen little evidence of progress and believe that time is well overdue to act. Areas pertinent to health included:

Other Areas of Co-operation

While we welcome the commitments to the development of co-operation outlined above, we feel that their scope is too limited. Indeed, the possibility of full co-operation in these areas will be compromised because of the absence of full co-operation in more fundamental areas. In many instances, it is not simply a matter of services that do not co-ordinate, but services that cannot. This is because the information and data that are being used by different organisations and agencies are not fully compatible. Without the co-ordination of information, no other forms of co-operation can work effectively. Therefore, as a foundation for the development of all-Ireland models of health care and promotion it is imperative that all-Ireland information systems are developed.

Health Information and Research Institute as an Area of Co-operation

The need for a comprehensive and co-ordinated system of information gathering has been recognised by the Department of Health and Children, which is currently developing a 'National' Health Information Strategy. We commend the wide-ranging and imaginative nature of the thinking behind this strategy. However, we have seen no evidence to suggest that there has been much thought put into adopting this strategy on an all-Ireland basis. This, we believe, is missing the opportunity to put in place information systems that can benefit everyone on the island, rather than just those living in the Twenty-six Counties.

We propose the establishment of a Health Information and Research Institute, set up through departmental co-operation with responsibility for:

1. The gathering, collation, processing and dissemination of information relating to health.

2. The co-ordination and funding of health research on an all-island basis.

3. Postgraduate Research

Due to the complementary nature of these activities Sinn Féin believes there is considerable merit in combining these two activities as an area of co-operation for the two Departments.

(i) Information.

As an essential basis for the co-ordination and amalgamation of health services, there needs to be a co-ordination of information. Because this information needs to be compatible throughout the 32 counties, there needs to be a standardisation of the type of data collected, methods of collection, statistical analysis and dissemination of results. This requires an all-Ireland institute to be set up under the remit of this area of co-operation.

The Institute would therefore supplant the current functions of the Information Management Unit of the DHC in the south, and the Information and Analysis Unit of the DHSSPS in the north. This institute, under the aegis of a ministerial Area of Co-operation, should discharge all functions proposed in the DHC's National Health Information Strategy, on a 32 county basis.

(ii) Research.

Health care research is vital in both contributing to global knowledge of health, and gaining information about health issues within Ireland. Health research is an extremely expensive matter, so amalgamation of the two existing funding bodies would provide considerable benefit to this area of work, in terms of economies of scale, allowing for a greater range of research projects than is currently possible. Moreover, given the overlap between information and research activities, there are sound reasons for them to be located within the same institution. The Health Information and Research Institute should therefore supplant the current functions of the Research and Development Office in the north and the Health Research Board in the south, under the overall control of the two departments working in co-operation.

(iii) Post Graduate Education.

Postgraduate education in medicine and dentistry have also already been agreed to as areas of co-operation. Once again, we propose, as a part of the Health area if Co-operation, that an independent expert enquiry be carried out to identify those areas of postgraduate research and specialist training. This would be more efficiently and cost-effectively be carried out on an all-Ireland basis. There should also be a commitment that the recommendations of these enquiries should be acted on without delay.

Expanding the Area of co-operation in Health to encompass these three most basic elements of research, will help to lay the groundwork for the expansion of an All Ireland Health service which will address the current radical problems in the Health services North and South, and offer the possibility, in the longer run, of building a health service which offers state of the art treatment to all of the people of Ireland.

(2) Expanding the Area of co-operation on Education(

In calling for the expansion of the Area of Co-operation in Education, Sinn Féin is aware that any measure aimed at joining, amalgamating or harmonizing the two existing systems, or parts thereof, will have to be seen as mutually beneficial to receive initial funding, and be mainstreamed by both education systems in order to become integrated into common practice.

The fact that Ireland has two different and separate education systems with few lines of communication between them, adversely affects teachers and learners in a number of ways -

Lack of awareness of the other part of the island, which should be a natural destination for school trips and exchanges, as well as co-operation. Partition has led to increased insularity within each system.

Increased cost of resources, through unnecessary duplication, and difficulties in sharing resources (for example, Irish-medium materials) due to differences in curricula etc.

Obstacles to development, from reduced opportunities for sharing and disseminating research, good practice and joint curriculum development.

Obstacles to the movement of students and teachers, by differences in teacher qualification requirements, registration schemes, lack of transferability of pensions and disparities in accreditation and certification systems.

Problems in addressing disadvantage, with the studies done in each jurisdiction clearly pointing up the similarities occurring in the two parts of the island. The conclusions should be applied on an all-island basis, in tackling issues like the shared problem of between 22 and 24% adult functional illiteracy north and south.

Since the setting up of the assembly and Executive in the north, there has been an increased focus on communication, co-operation and in some cases partnership between the two systems, with conferences held to explore aspects of each system, resulting in some cases with envy being expressed by one side or the other with features of the others' system.

Education was identified as one of the areas of cooperation under the AIMC, the aspects initially agreed for consideration being education for children with special needs; educational under-achievement; teacher qualifications and school, youth and teacher exchanges.

The areas of work currently in progress under the AIMC are in many cases still in their infancy, with few concrete results and little hard currency spent on the ground by either Department. The most impressive project is the planned All-Ireland Centre of Excellence on Autism and Dyslexia in Middletown, County Armagh.

Observers have stated that the AIMC's progress report shows little breadth of vision, with civil service prudence written all over it. Another major obstacle was David Trimble's banning of Sinn Féin Ministers attending their sectoral NSMC meetings on a number of occasions, as well as the ongoing financial constraints existing in both education systems.

Proposal for the expansion of the Area of Co-operation in Education.

The proposal for the expansion of Education as an area of co-operation must therefore ensure sufficient continuity and vision, to convince all involved in the area of education of the benefits of such an arrangement, and to demonstrate that it will not simply be a series of stop-start projects.

The Body would be responsible on behalf of the two governments for the following, on an all-island basis:

a. Measuring and Remediating disadvantage and exclusion.

i. Agreeing on common indicators of disadvantage.

ii. Commissioning research on the all-Ireland dimension of educational disadvantage.

iii. Reviewing and evaluating projects targeted at educational advantage.

iv. Co-coordinating the drafting of an all-Ireland Charter of Children's Rights, including the Right To Education.

v. Planning and monitoring an all-Ireland programme of work for Adult Literacy.

vi. Continuing the work begun by the AIMC on special needs education.

b. Collaborating in the delivery of Irish-medium education.

i. Co-coordinating the production of educational resources that can be used across the island.

ii. Supporting the development of Initial Teacher Education for the Irish-medium sector.

c. Sharing best practice and research.

i. Establishing an Irish educational journal aimed at disseminating educational research across the island.

ii. Promoting joint research projects, by securing additional funding as an incentive for all-Ireland research.

d. Facilitating the mobility of teachers and students.

Putting in place a programme of harmonization of accreditation and certification, starting with vocational and technical qualifications and teacher qualifications.

(3) Expanding the Area of co-operation on Tourism

No economic sector gives a more clear indication of the potential offered by development of the economy on an all Ireland than the tourism sector. Furthermore, there is scarcely a sector that offers greater potential for local community development in the most disadvantaged rural areas than Tourism.

The importance of Tourism to the economy cannot be overestimated. There were an astonishing 6.3 million visitors to the 26 counties of Ireland in 2000, and some 1.7 million visitors to the 6 counties. In total, the cumulative spend was €4 billion in the 26 Counties and £282 Million in the 6 counties. It is estimated that 26 County tourism accounts alone for 8.7% of employment in the 26 Counties, which represents 1 in 12 workers. The relatively underdeveloped tourism sector in the 6 Counties employs over 40,000 workers, accounting for almost 6.4% of the total number employed.

Current Situation

The potential for marketing tourism on an All-Ireland basis was recognised in the Good Friday Agreement and it has been an area of co-operation under the All Ireland Ministerial Council, which agreed, in October 2000, to set up a publicly owned limited company, Tourism Ireland Ltd (TIL). This body is responsible for promoting the island of Ireland and its associated tourism 'product' to overseas markets.

The board of TIL has representation from Bord Fáilte Éireann, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and tourism industry interests in the North and the South. The Company is to employ 160 people and has a marketing budget of £16.7million/€26.6m, with which to implement their Operating Plan for 2002 and the Company's corporate plan for 2002- 2004. (Both of which the AIMC approved).

The company objectives, agreed by the AIMC, are to disseminate information abroad, which reflects 'the diverse cultural expression and identity' in Ireland: to conduct market research, to deliver international tourism marketing and promotion programmes, drawn up in partnership with the industry North and South, for Bord Fáilte Éireann and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

Limited Remit

Despite the substantial marketing budget and employment provision, the remit of the TIL as detailed in its operational plan is limited in two crucial respects:

The marketing and promotion whilst based on an all-Ireland tourism product has failed to erode artificial partitions created by the two extant state tourism promotional bodies. As such, cross-border tourism and all-Ireland tourism themes have remained underdeveloped. This is paralleled in partitionist divides on the status of cross-border Areas of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB) which on one side of the border might receive recognition but adjoining portions may be ignored (e.g. the Cuilcagh and Burren areas of Fermanagh and Cavan). It has also entirely failed to promote, across the world, the new post-GFA Ireland of a rich history and culture moving on in its unique environment - landscape, mountains, rivers, waterways, pastures, bog lands. This is a heritage that has spread worldwide interest in Ireland. The TIL has failed to exploit these advantages.

The TIL canvas has also been curtailed by its most limited aspiration to "co-operate with, consult, and assist other bodies or associations in marketing research and promoting tourism", when outreach, active hands-on engagement is necessary, especially in rural areas, to advise and support local private and social economy tourism initiatives in the disadvantaged communities.

Bord Fáilte accredited hotels across the 6 counties is no substitute for real integration of cultural and activity-based tourism, nor is it a substitute for targeting areas of social need and deprivation. The development of local tourist attractions, which have the potential to reverse ongoing economic decline of disadvantaged communities, will go some way to addressing this situation.

The key agents for the marketing and promotion of Irish tourism abroad have remained the two separate bodies, Bord Fáilte Éireann, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, working in their distinct partitionist ways, one clearly more successful than the other.

Bord Fáilte has succeeded in building a strong international profile for tourism in the 26 Counties, concentrating as it has on specific theme marketing - recreational, sports, fishing, waterways, hostelling, adventure, walking, environment, and historical heritage center activities. Aspirations of an integrated marketing agency in the form of TIL, promoting such theme tourism and reflecting our rich cultural diversity, which is such a key tourist attraction for Ireland, have not been fulfilled. Fishing, water, equestrian sports, mountaineering, common history, does not stop at the border, yet the development of the tourism promotion which Bord Fáilte has promulgated on behalf of Irish tourism has not been extended, as it needs to be, to the 6 county regions, most especially the Border Counties.

Tourism as an area of co-operation

There is no question that if either of these aspects of the restricted nature of the TIL are to be addressed it is necessary to extend the remit of tourism as an area of co-operation, which holds the opportunity of a wider and more closely integrated approach the very wide opportunities for all Ireland tourism. The advantages of expanding Tourism as an area of co-operation are:

It would enable the integration of tourism marketing and promotion developing REAL experiential tourism 32 county wide, and enabling 6 county tourism to become an equal partner in tourism provision, and not a poor relation, where a quick visit to Belfast, in order to have 'done' Ireland, may be the only aspect of integration.

Conducting a comprehensive all-Ireland Tourism Attraction audit that would seek to identify and map all the key tourism attractions and capacities across all aspects of the sector (e.g. cultural attractions, archeological sites, AONB, Heritage Centres/Sites, Accommodation provision, etc). This is a necessary first step towards the strategic coordination of development of cross-border and regional tourism trails and products. It would also help to identify under-developed areas and would dovetail into existing work conducted in most of the 26 Counties by the County Development Boards (albeit in an ad-hoc and inconsistent County-wide basis).

Work to develop local community tourism centres targeting areas of special attraction but also areas of disadvantage and need. The potential for tourism development especially areas currently suffering from underdeveloped tourism infrastructure along the West coast and in often picturesque border areas in the Northwest is huge. Every area has its history, its landscape, and its unique culture. Opportunities for development are boundless. The potential development canvas is immense because it is clear that every area can develop a specialist tourist attraction, which draws people to the area, and raises local income on a community basis.

Increasingly transfer roles and responsibilities from the existing Tourism Agencies and Bodies to TIL, in particular those of the NITB and Bord Fáilte (or the planned National Tourism Development Authority). Whilst this would create a dynamic all-Ireland Tourism Agency, it is important that the roles played by the six regional tourism authorities and Shannon Development should be retained although the geographical location of these should be reviewed to ensure that any partitionist bias be removed.

A pre-requisite for developing these opportunities is a proactive approach in empowering community development in this sector. This will require an advisory outreach service, with central joint departmental support and technical advice, which co-ordinates tourist development. There can be a strong case made for the redeployment of many, if not most, of the existing 160 staff currently employed by TIL (150 of whom are based in Dublin) as tourist development outreach workers, who would have a significant role working to develop within each local community, tourism attractions which the community owns, manages, directs and benefits from in targeting disadvantaged rural and urban communities.

Summary

The development of the tourism industry, which is so important in the context of Ireland, will not happen, or bring gain to areas where it is most needed, without the hands-on central state development which can proceed from an expanded area of co-operation in tourism.

Sinn Fein believes the expansion of Tourism from as an area of co-operation is of key importance to the economic development of the whole island, and as a core way of impacting on disadvantage in rural areas. These objectives need to be progressed at a National level but also promoted and publicised at local councils as a Republican vision for a vibrant and socially rewarding Tourism Sector.

(4) Expanding the Area of co-operation on Agriculture

Agriculture plays a major role in the Irish economy. In the north, it is four times more important to the six county economy than it is to the UK economy as a whole, while it is the second largest industry in the Twenty-six counties, accounting for 10% of GDP, with agricultural exports worth seven billion euros annually.

However, agriculture in Ireland is facing serious problems. Farm incomes, north and south, are lower than they have been for a decade, while neither administration has a strategy for recovery in terms of the impending expansion of the EU, the forthcoming changes in CAP subsidization policies, with the decoupling of support payments from quantities produced, and impending the World Trade Organization negotiations. In many regions, these developments threaten the very survival of the agricultural economy, and with it rural development.

In addition, partition, which has separated agriculture across the island, continues to be damaging to agriculture both north and south. Examples of this include -

Agriculture's clear importance to the Six county economy suffers from its insignificant place in overall UK economic policies and interests. Its needs and priorities, and the nature of the problems facing it, coincide with those in the south, not with England or the UK.

Competition between agriculture north and south - separate farming organizations and government departments - ignores the need for a common negotiating platform for Irish agriculture, and clearly represents duplication and waste of resources,

Six county agriculture has suffered heavily from exchange rate differentials between sterling and the euro,

The marketing of northern products with the UK's has associated it with the problems of BSE and Foot and Mouth, while Irish agriculture has a 'clean, green' and safe image, which has been widely marketed and promoted.

Currently Existing work of Co-operation

There has some development in Agriculture as an area of co-operation since the GFA. An Advisory Forum has been set up and Focus groups; the policy working groups on Animal Health have been established; there have been formal meetings between departments on food policy Development; there has been some co-operation on scientific and Statistical research, including some jointly funded post-graduate research. Co-operation has extended to informal meetings with Coillte Teo, and co-operation between Forest Service officials, and some co-operation on fisheries between DMNR and Bord Iascaigjh Mhara. These are important developments.

Furthermore these developments in active co-operation have been seriously held back by existing limitations on ministerial co-operation. An extreme example is provided by the Policy working Groups on Animal Health which were set up to produce a strategy and policy for an All Ireland animal health body, but which after nearly 3 years of existence have as yet produced no strategy or policy upon which to build the All Ireland Animal Health policy which is so urgently needed, if Irish agriculture is to build successfully on its reputation of disease free, healthy natural foods, produced in a 'clean and green' agricultural environment..

All these formal and informal areas of co-operation, joint discussions and departmental areas of co-operation need expanded, taking on a wider body of work. All of Ireland will be the looser if this is not done as a matter of urgency.

Sinn Féin believes that co-operation between Agricultural departments in the 6 and 26 counties towards an all-Ireland Agricultural policy is a prerequisite for the very survival of Irish agriculture and the capacity to exploit the wide opportunities existing in agri-business.

Fishery

However this work, estimable as it is, in only an indication of the scope and need to expand this area of co-operation in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

The case for strong co-operation between departments north and south to co-ordinate protection of marine fisheries is evident. Fish do not stop at the border. The disaster which the Common EU Fisheries policy has wrought on all of Ireland's fishing industry, upon which communities in the North as in the South depended for their living, is surely just one result of the lack of co-operation between Departments North and South which have responsibility for fishing.

Forestry

Equally in the case of Forestry, a commodity that in all EU is in strong demand, where according to the original Mansholt Plan, Ireland had outstanding comparative advantage in forestry, the lack of collaboration between forestry, North and South, has been a major constraint on holding back the development of this industry. Given that the largest timber processing plant in Europe is based at Enniskillen, and the most extensive planting of forestry has occurred in the South, it is evident that cooperation across the whole island in forestry is a pre-requisite of growth and further development of downstream industry. It must be noted that down the years, Ireland has suffered greatly from the export of unprocessed timber, and at the same time the import of highly processed timber products. It is criminal that this value added, which is so specially suited to small timber manufacturing firms, often situated in some of the least developed areas in the country, North and South, has been allowed to be lost, largely through lack of integrated and progressive development of the All Ireland Forestry Industry.

The EU and World Perspective

The expansion of Agriculture as an area of co-operation in the context of all Ireland is urgent. But so also is Departmental co-operation in Agriculture of crucial importance vis a vis world trade and EU negotiations. Co-operation between Ministers and their departments can bring agriculture north and south towards a common policy, a common direction and common negotiating platform in the EU. This offers immense advantage to agriculture on both sides of the current border.

Agriculture north and south are natural partners, with both standing to gain strongly from a common approach and platform, focused on developing the following policy developments:

As an all-Ireland negotiator at EU (CAP) and WTO negotiations, so that difficulties and interests, common to north and south, can be represented.

As an all-island mediator, mediating between changes in EU policy and their impact on Irish farmers, and enabling Irish agriculture to adapt to anticipated changes in EU policies. These changes need to be mediated to allow Irish agriculture to survive and grow within these changes, by exploitation of, for example, niche markets, promotion of quality Irish food, and development of organic farming and downstream agribusiness.

The Departments jointly should establish a market-regulating agency, with the powers to control prices. Currently farmers and farming organizations are powerless to contend with the ever-increasing concentration of buyers and supplier, as well as cheap and inferior foreign imports. A regulator is vital to tackle the multi-national supermarkets, and the cartels that currently strangle farm suppliers whilst exploiting consumers with exorbitant profit margins.

The Departments need to take a holistic view of the entire area of rural development, where Sinn Féin's prime objective is one of equality, in income levels and, broadly speaking, quality of life.

On issues such as land prices and milk quotas, there is a clear need for Departmental co-operation to subsume the authority necessary to take on the powerful financial forces and defend the long term interest of the farmers against the ravages that credit and bank loans have wrought.

The opportunities for Irish agriculture, north and south, and for farmers large and small, are there. Sinn Féin believes that they require the expansion of departmental co-operation to take them up and ensure equal opportunities and equal outcomes for our rural communities, with agriculture retaining its position as a key component of the all Ireland economy.

(5)Expanding the Area of co-operation on Environment

The Key Importance of the Environment to Ireland as a whole.

Protection of our environment and the safeguarding of our scarce national resources is a core issue for all of Ireland.

Environmental issues lie at the very heart of developing a sustainable approach to the development of our agriculture, tourism, marine and inland waterways and rivers and the preservation of our mountains, hills and pasture.

They are central to providing a basis for good health of all, by safeguarding healthy and safe food, water and air.

They are core issues in the provision of energy, fuel and transport and the exploitation of our resources including turf, oil, gas and minerals and the provision of cheap efficient non-polluting power to supply households and industry and transport.

Environmental issues have moved centre stage in rural and urban planning decisions. The question of how to deal with urban and suburban sprawl affects most areas in today's world. They are also central to the need to accommodate the increasing population on this island in adequate and well serviced housing, which respects our environment, uses and preserves our scarce resources, and puts Ireland to the forefront of countries which are committed to saving the world's limited natural resources through zero waste.

Environmental issues are key to the development of a sustainable All-Ireland economy over the next decades. Environmental issues not only affect all aspects of the quality of life of our citizens over the coming decades, they also lie at the very heart of development of the economic potential in this country.

An All-Ireland Issue - The Island is an Environmental unit.

Our very geography, as an island, dictates that Ireland, whilst not oblivious to the environmental destruction occurring around it, must be treated as one environmental unit. It is ludicrous if a part of this geographically distinct area, should be treated separately as part of a neighbouring island, and subjected to the huge fines for non-compliance with EU directives, which now seem likely to be incurred by our highly industrialised neighbouring island.

The 'clean and green' image, which is so important to Ireland given the central importance of agriculture and tourism in the Irish economy, can only be achieved and retained on an All-Ireland basis. The pollution of air, water and land does not stop at any border. If environmental policies are to be effective or successful in either part of Ireland, they must apply across the whole island.

Today Ireland stands at a crossroads. Will the government of this island move to the forefront of the nations of the world looking to preserve our world from pollution, the waste of scarce resources, and exploit our all-Ireland advantage of being recognised as 'clean and green' with all the economic potential which this offers? Or will we continue to be the laggard of Europe, where the 26 County authorities only reluctantly accede to environmental protection measures; always too late and too little to exploit our national comparative advantage, or to enhance the very quality of life of everyone who lives here?

The urgency and importance to all the citizens of this country of this area of co-operation where working together the two departments are able to tackle these issues, as one environmental unit, cannot be overestimated.

Environmental Principles

In the context of a growing worldwide realisation that we are fast destroying our environment and using, and wasting, its scarce, non-renewable resources, there are two broad principles that are now widely accepted as those which should govern environmental strategies:

The Polluter pays

Policies should aim for zero Waste

The administrations, North and South, have markedly failed to develop policy that accord with these principles. Waterways and lakes have been polluted with little concern as to future social or economic impacts, many, if not most, of the lakes in the North and West of Ireland are polluted - if not with effluents, agricultural run-off, then through carelessness in spread of Zebra mussels. This is already having an economic cost in reducing the attraction of Lakeland areas, one of the key tourism assets of Ireland as a whole. There are few beaches on Ireland's coastline that qualify for blue flag categorisation. Erosion of mountain land, largely as a result of EU CAP policies, which led to the overstocking with sheep, has meant that in many areas of Ireland householders still, in this day and age, do not have access to a clean water supply. There are a growing number of regions in this country where piped water is not good enough to drink and others where due to the cost of piping from 'pure' sources, alternative and less potable water is being supplied.

Current waste disposal strategies in both London and Dublin are based on a reliance on outmoded incineration technology, which wastes recyclable materials, produces toxins which damage the genetics of generations, and come at exorbitant costs, which fall heavily on the householder through ever mounting waste charges, are the very opposite of the zero waste or polluter pays principles.

The lack of a modern air monitoring and pollutant testing facility in Ireland renders what safeguards are imposed by planning authorities on factories and mining enterprises, useless because they are unenforceable. Environmental protection through planning authorities is in disarray, bedevilled by endless delays, costly inquiries, where relevant, planning authorities do not have the specific remit to investigate environmental pollution. This situation is enabled in the Six Counties by the fact that planning authorities are not answerable to local democratic institutions and merely have to consult with district councils; in the 26 counties, the State Authority can bypass such consideration under the grounds of 'strategic economic interest'.

The failure of the Dublin Government to meet standards imposed by the EU on release of CO2 gases, the control of pollution of water and air, or observance of the EU waste hierarchy, despite the initial allowances granted by the EU to Ireland because of our late start in dealing with these issue, threatens heavy fines over the coming 5 years. These heavy fines will fall on the taxpayers, and not successive Ministers of Environment. There is no question that Ireland could have avoided this situation with a dedicated overall strategy to address environmental concerns.

North-South Ministerial Council Co-operation on Environment

The work of the All Ireland Ministerial Council in the area of environment has been important. It was agreed, first, to research environmental protection, pollution, water quality and to identify options to encourage the expansion of waste recycling in Ireland, North and South, and to develop a joint approach to market and manufacturing development for secondary materials and recyclates.

These are important developments in addressing the technological opportunities for recycling, to developing markets for recyclates, and new options for waste disposal and recovery. The research into water quality, the collaboration between EPA and EHS on a joint website of current environmental research, the agreed work in co-operation, on chemical and biological monitoring of surface waters, the monitoring of fish stocks, and the scooping study of the environmental impacts of agriculture across the island, all represent important initial steps through co-operation. Statutory authorities urgently need to develop an integrated approach to all these environmental issues, and the result of this cooperation needs to be supported with joint departmental boards with sufficient power and funding to enable progress to be made across the whole island.

The initial work of the AIMC in cross border co-operation provides proof of the need for, and a good basis upon which to build, the enforcement of an All Ireland zero waste environmental policy and practice which could and should be the envy of Europe, because it can take advantage of our unique position, as an island, which shares no land border with another jurisdiction.

(6) Expanding the Area of co-operation on Transport

For the future economic development of the Irish economy, transport of people, goods and services within and in and out of the island is vital. As a small regional unit, there is an economic imperative to co-ordinate the development, use and access to transport infrastructure on the island. This leads us to the conclusion that the expansion of the Area of co-operation in Transport would assist in this aim, and should fulfil the functions described below.

In both sectors, where the dominance of public sector service provision is giving way to market-led strategies, there is now more than ever a need to ensure that, where private sector involvement is increasing, that such services are managed efficiently and in the interests of not just business but for all Irish people.

The Dublin government has already realized the importance of strategic planning for transport with the creation of a single stand-alone transport department last year.

Where both north and south there is a commitment by the administration to an inward investment export based economic strategy, efficient transport mechanisms must complement this, and also assist indigenous businesses, to trade throughout the island and export from it.

There is also a clear need for integration of the transport infrastructure on the island to service the needs of all the people.

Such development requires long term planning and considerable expenditure, and we contend that an island-wide approach is necessary to ensure the optimum results.

The expansion of the area of co-operation in Transport would involve working to co-ordinate the all Ireland provision of: -

Rail - The rail network in Ireland was built on an all-Ireland basis, but partition has led to downgrading and, in some areas, complete closedown. Long term planning and investment are clearly required, and development on an all-Ireland basis offers a way to benefit from economies of scale. At present, there is only one cross-border link, but there is the potential for Dublin-Derry and Derry-Letterkenny projects, the latter as part of the Innovation Northwest scheme currently involving the IntertradeIreland implementation body. In the future, a north-south west coast network could be developed similar to the present north-south east coast system.

- The rail network in Ireland was built on an all-Ireland basis, but partition has led to downgrading and, in some areas, complete closedown. Long term planning and investment are clearly required, and development on an all-Ireland basis offers a way to benefit from economies of scale. At present, there is only one cross-border link, but there is the potential for Dublin-Derry and Derry-Letterkenny projects, the latter as part of the Innovation Northwest scheme currently involving the IntertradeIreland implementation body. In the future, a north-south west coast network could be developed similar to the present north-south east coast system.

Airports - here lies the potential for work at Departmental level to develop a proper internal airline service, and an opportunity to prevent unnecessary competition between the regional airports, thus exploiting the potential for the regions they serve.

- here lies the potential for work at Departmental level to develop a proper internal airline service, and an opportunity to prevent unnecessary competition between the regional airports, thus exploiting the potential for the regions they serve.

Bus - Good co-ordination already exists here but with more private operators coming on stream, joint departmental co-operation could help ensure the most extensive cost effective island-wide bus network.

- Good co-ordination already exists here but with more private operators coming on stream, joint departmental co-operation could help ensure the most extensive cost effective island-wide bus network.

Road building - The bulk of transport spending is in this area, and co-coordinated forward planning would move us from the current situation of two internal road networks linked only by a small number of national roads, to a network servicing the whole island, not built around Belfast and Dublin as hubs.

- The bulk of transport spending is in this area, and co-coordinated forward planning would move us from the current situation of two internal road networks linked only by a small number of national roads, to a network servicing the whole island, not built around Belfast and Dublin as hubs.

Ports - Shipping is still a vital sector, and again needless competition could be addressed by a co-coordinated approach nationally.

- Shipping is still a vital sector, and again needless competition could be addressed by a co-coordinated approach nationally.

- The rail network in Ireland was built on an all-Ireland basis, but partition has led to downgrading and, in some areas, complete closedown. Long term planning and investment are clearly required, and development on an all-Ireland basis offers a way to benefit from economies of scale. At present, there is only one cross-border link, but there is the potential for Dublin-Derry and Derry-Letterkenny projects, the latter as part of the Innovation Northwest scheme currently involving the IntertradeIreland implementation body. In the future, a north-south west coast network could be developed similar to the present north-south east coast system. - here lies the potential for work at Departmental level to develop a proper internal airline service, and an opportunity to prevent unnecessary competition between the regional airports, thus exploiting the potential for the regions they serve. - Good co-ordination already exists here but with more private operators coming on stream, joint departmental co-operation could help ensure the most extensive cost effective island-wide bus network. - The bulk of transport spending is in this area, and co-coordinated forward planning would move us from the current situation of two internal road networks linked only by a small number of national roads, to a network servicing the whole island, not built around Belfast and Dublin as hubs. - Shipping is still a vital sector, and again needless competition could be addressed by a co-coordinated approach nationally.

As well as developing these separately, there is a need for development in conjunction with each other, with the clear eventual aim of an island-wide integrated transport plan, and with this the development of the All-Ireland GPS system, and coloration between the Ordinance survey bodies North and South. An all-Ireland integrated transport plan could provide a pool of all the knowledge and experience of the local authorities, and the two administrations, which are constantly tackling transport issues, such as gridlock in urban centres, bypasses for growing towns and lack of services in rural and suburban areas, with the ultimate objective of an All-Ireland network of transport infrastructure which met the island inter-trade and external trade and travel requirements.