Cabinet Committees
Dail Éireann — 2025-11-26
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Ivana Bacik (LAB), Dublin Bay South

I thank the Taoiseach for the update. I welcome the developments with the shared island fund. It is now clearer than it has ever been that conversations about the constitutional future of the island are picking up steam. I would dispute the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland's recent claim that there was no appetite for constitutional change in Northern Ireland. I see that the leader of the SDLP Claire Hanna and others contested that claim. In the absence of leadership from the British Government and in keeping with the principles in the Good Friday Agreement-Belfast Agreement, it is essential for our Government to take on a role of preparing in earnest for the work necessary to lay the groundwork and foundations for running a referendum on unity. We need a clear timeline to allow for that necessary groundwork to take place, to develop Green and White Papers, to allow for the work of citizens' assemblies to take place and to see progress made building on the work of the shared island unit in advance of the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement-Belfast Agreement. The Taoiseach said that the next meeting of the Cabinet subcommittee would be on 8 December. As we approach 2028, what substantive steps will that Cabinet subcommittee be announcing in terms of bringing the debate further?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-11-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:22+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-26