The recent IBEC-CBI report identifies serious barriers to all-island labour mobility, including complex tax arrangements, restrictions, hybrid working, incompatible work permit systems and a lack of clear guidance for employers. I thank my colleague the Minister, Dr. Caoimhe Archibald, in Stormont, who has already written to the British Treasury about this and who has discovered that significant progress has been made on the new double taxation convention between the UK and Ireland. I am interested to hear an update from the Minister on these talks.

I am asking the Minister for a timeline for when the recommendations in the report will be implemented. The report rightly addresses the barriers preventing workers and employers from taking full advantage of the all-island labour market. Both organisations involved called for urgent action on hybrid working and taxation and immigration arrangements, including the establishment of the forum, as the Minister said, to develop solutions.

Brexit has led to significant issues for workers in the Six Counties and the wider Border region. The North voted to remain in the EU in 2016, yet, ten years on, we are still dealing with the consequences of that disastrous vote. Eighteen thousand workers face significant obstacles navigating the Border on a daily basis. Cross-Border trade amounts to €17 billion annually, but the potential for growth is restricted by the availability of labour. Forty-two per cent of IBEC-CBI members sampled said that mobility barriers are making it harder to fill those skill gaps. We need urgency on this.

I do not have a timeline because LEEF has not yet considered fully the contents of the report and formulated a response. However, I concur with what the Deputy said regarding the all-island economy and the growth in the value of cross-Border trade to €17 billion. I sense that an opportunity in this regard is being left behind. As a member of LEEF, I know it has been stated previously that taxation issues are causing difficulty in the context of cross-Border work. However, I would point out that LEEF has all the relevant people present to consider this. Obviously, the taxation issue has been highlighted as a fairly significant concern.

As soon as LEEF comes forward with a resolution or a response to the report and a set of actions, which we need, it will help us in developing a bilateral approach to all-island labour mobility. This will be key, particularly in resolving the taxation arrangements as well as those relating to social security, which will be key to help the Department of Social Protection as well.

I thank the Minister for that and for the work that is being done. I just think there needs to be an urgency in respect of this matter. I accept that the double taxation convention is primarily a matter for the Department of Finance and the British Treasury. However, the consequences of the barriers extend directly into enterprise and employment policy, recruitment skills shortages and the ability of businesses to operate across the island.

The IBEC-CBI report is not simply a taxation report. It identifies wider barriers affecting the operation of the all-island labour market. I ask that the Minister urgently address the recommendations made within this report. I acknowledge the work that has been done to date, but there is an opportunity cost around all of the delays with regard to sorting this out ten years after Brexit.

LEEF has a shared island working group dedicated to resolving some of these significant challenges and putting significant capital funding in. However, I concur with the Deputy that we need to make it easier for enterprises to flourish on both sides of the Border and workers will be key. This has been discussed at the LEEF and we are working collectively to formulate a response to the IBEC and Confederation of British Industry, CBI report at the joint business council. I am doing absolutely everything I can to further North-South relations, particularly with the Deputy's colleague, Caoimhe Archibald. The cross-Border work we have been doing in tourism and other areas is quite striking, particularly investing in significant projects that will bring mutual benefit, such as bringing the lakelands of Fermanagh into Ireland's Ancient East, the work on extending the causeway coastal path and the Wild Atlantic Way. There is a huge amount of opportunity in that area. Equally, we have challenges in business which we have to make progress on. I am up for doing so and will raise the Deputy's concerns at the LEEF.