 Rwy'n cael ei wneud, a dyma'r cyhoeddfa ar y ddweud o'r hynny'n ddiddordeb yn y ddweud. 16 yr ysgol yn Dau, mae'r ddweud o'r welkom yn ddiddordeb. Mae'r ddiddorol yn ei wneud y ffordd o 10 o'r gweithio newid yn unig o'r yrhaf i'r Ysgrifonau Ayrdd. Mae ddiddorol 75 miliwn o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r eu cyfnodol, ac mae'n ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r unig o'r ddweud o'r cyfrwyng. Felly, rydyn ni wedi'w gwneud yn gwneud y ddweud y ddydd y fawr o'r mwyaf ar yr odd yn dda'i'r ddechrau. Ond rydyn ni'n gael y ddod ar y dyfodol, ac mae'n ddiddordeb. Mae'n gynhyrch am ddod i ddysgu Arland a'r Unedig yn yw'r Brexit yn ymddangos, rydym yn cael y Brexit yw'r ffordd ni'n ddiddordeb. Mae'n ddiddordeb yw'r cyfrifol, ddod o'r negosiadau i'r rhain pwyllwyr, ynghylch, ynghylch, ynghylch a'r rhaglenau a'r rhaglenau i'r Unedig Unedig Unedig yn ymchwil. Ond ydych chi'n ymwneud i'r Michael Barnier yn ymwyno, mae'n unig ar y glifio ar y brydau i'n ymwneud i'ch certynnu'n hynny yn y sphysgol fel ydych chi'n fwyaf i'r argynnu'n gyfael ar Y Llywodraeth ac i'r Unedig Unedig Unedig Unedig, ac i'r ffugir. Felly, sef ddweud, ar y ddweud, o'r olyfod o'r 11 piam, unig yma yma yma ynglyn wrth i Eur minds해. Rwy'n dod i'ch ei gwaith o'r ymddangos a gynrych arnyddio mae'r argyllid yn bifau. Rydym wedi'u gweld itgyntaf ar ymddangos, ond ydych ei geisio ddim yma, mae'n gallu ei ddaech arnes o'r Unig yma a phaith yma yma yma... Rwy'n gobeithio, mae'r gweithio'n rhaeg yng nghymru eu hunain ac rhaed i'n mynd i'n dwy surfio mewn dod i'r ddechrau. Mae gennym ei gweithio y llwyddiad ar gyfer y EU ac eu Gweithgfaeth, ac mae'n gweithio'r gweithio ar y Lŷod dweud. Mae hyn yn eich gweithio'r gweithio arall, ac mae'r gweithio ar gyfer y Lŵod mwy. A dyma'r gweithio ar gyfer Lŵod, mae'n gweithio'r gweithio ddifu llwyth yn rwy, ddechrau'r gweithio, ddechrau'r environment, ddechrau'r gweithio, ac yr yw bod yw'r ysgolwyr maen nhw'n meddwl i'r dynodol, ac mae'n rhoi'r norm EU i dynodol gyda'r rhaglen o'r adnod, dynodol. Roeddwn i'r hynny'n ddynod i'r ddweud o'r gweithio gyda'r ymddindig ymddindig ymddindig sydd yn dweud i dynodol yma i eich bod ymddindig yn ymddindig. Mae'r idea ymddindig yn ymddindig yn ddweud a'u ddweud i'r ffordd o'r optimism ac unig yn y ffrif. Europe allowed us here in Ireland to take our place among the nations of the world. So today is bittersweet for all of us who believe in the idea of a united Europe. Our sadness however is tempered by what we have seen over the past three years. And although the European Union has been tested in the past decade by the rise of populism, the financial crisis and Brexit, it did not break. And in fact in my view has come through stronger and more united than ever. Today we're particularly grateful to the European Member States for their solidarity and support during the recent Brexit negotiations. And I'm glad to see some EU ambassadors here today and I hope you'll convey our words of thanks back to your capitals. What we saw over the past three years is proved positive that small countries benefit from membership of the European Union. We don't get swallowed up, rather we are partners. So this morning is an opportunity to remember what a united Europe stands for as we imagine the Europe of the future. The ideals of European unity, freedom, peace and solidarity are perhaps best expressed in the words of Schiller put to music by Beethoven proclaiming our shared values and our unity in diversity. They suggest that the abiding friendship can transcend human frailties and weaknesses and help us to achieve something much greater. I'm struck by the fact that over the past few years we've seen again the power of an abiding friendship in action. A friendship that brought peace, reconciliation and prosperity to Europe and has helped to protect peace here in Ireland is to went through this first difficult phase of Brexit. The UK leaving is not a cause of celebration for us. There will be no issuing of commemorative coins for this event. But we do celebrate the solidarity that has been shown by our EU partners and we say thank you to our fellow Europeans. Over the past two and a half years I've travelled across Europe meeting fellow heads of state and government to discuss Brexit and the challenges it has brought to the island of Ireland. I think I've been in every Prime Minister's office at this stage and if I haven't been in theirs they've been in mine. And I'll never forget the reaction of the people I met. Those who inquired every time we met about the progress of Brexit what I thought would happen next and wondered what it would mean for my country. Those who worried about peace on the island of Ireland those who came here to visit the border area and the kindness of those who shared our concern and wished us well. And I have to say I was humbled by their generosity of spirit and the evidence in every European city of how international interests had replaced narrow national ones. So today we say thank you to the European leaders in our Member States and also to the EU institutions the Parliament, the Council and the Commission who made Irish concerns their own and stood with us to achieve a deal that protects the hard earned peace on the island of Ireland. We say thank you to the people of Europe who understood our fears and took our hopes and concerns into their own hearts. European unity started as an idea it became a dream and then became reality. The solidarity and abiding friendship we've received over the past three years is further proof that that European dream is durable. It can withstand whatever is thrown at it and it is strengthened by coming through trials together. And with the ongoing rise of populism and nationalism in many European countries there will be more trials in the future, I believe. As Tishwick I've seen the strengthened unity of the European Union and how much we can achieve when all Member States all 27 of us think together, work together and have common objectives and goals. When Europe acts as one it is a truly powerful force for good in the world. United we stand, but divided we achieve little. So the next step is to negotiate a future relationship including a free trade agreement between the European Union including Ireland and the UK one that protects jobs, businesses, rural and coastal communities and our economies generally. The UK would like to see a trade deal this year and I believe that is possible particularly if the new trade deal brings about arrangements that are very similar to the current ones. It will be difficult though but in the withdrawal agreement there is an option that the joint committee can agree an extension if needs be. Now I know the British government has ruled that out but it is still there in the withdrawal agreement should the British government and the EU come together and join the joint committee and decide that an extension is needed. On our side we know it is going to be a pretty rocky couple of months. The European Council at the end of March is going to be crucial in that regard and we need to get down to business very quickly trying to get the trade deal which is essential for the Irish economy and of course for Britain's. We want free trade with the UK with no tariffs, no taxes, no quotas and as little bureaucracy and as few checks as possible but no matter what happens there will be some bureaucracy and there will be checks because things cannot be as they were before. I am adamant that our future partnership with the UK must go beyond trade. It needs to cover a broad range of issues including fisheries for example security, our universities cooperation on research and economics generally. I am confident that we can get a good deal but good news is that I don't think the two parties are actually that far apart further apart in rhetoric than in substance. The EU on the one hand and Britain on the other broadly agree that we want there to be no quotas no tariffs, no taxes and the minimum amount of bureaucracy and checks possible and that's really important in Ireland for our exporters, our businesses our agriculture sector, our rural economy our coastal communities and the 200,000 people in all parts of Ireland whose jobs depend on trade with the UK. However we have to be realistic about the dangers as well. A failure to secure a trade deal would be a major threat and an existential threat to our economy in 2021. So we do need that deal. The whole idea of a level playing field is important because there is a genuine concern across the European Union that part of the motivation behind Brexit at least for some people who are behind Brexit was for the UK to undercut us or outbid us in terms of state aids environmental standards, labour standards product standards, food standards and all of those things. When I met with Prime Minister Johnson in Belfast recently he reassured me that this was not the case that that was not the kind of United Kingdom that he wanted to lead as Prime Minister. But we need that written down in law that there aren't misunderstandings in future and we need a mechanism to adjudicate disputes and enforce those adjudications. Today I think is also an opportunity to reflect to think a little bit beyond Brexit and to think about the future of our European Union. Past generations I believe knew instinctively that a united Europe was a good idea. They knew it could bring an end to centuries of war in our continent that have provided a pathway for peace, democracy and the rule of law for free markets and prosperity after the horrors of World War II. Particularly those who lived on continental Europe said no more war and the European Union allowed France and Germany and other states to put aside generations of conflict in favour of cooperation and for those who lived behind the Iron Curtain in Central and Eastern Europe the European Union was always the light, the hope the possibility that communism could be defeated and democracy, the rule of law and the social market economy brought to their countries too. But for younger people, those younger than me the horrors of World War and the evils of fascism and communism are not in their memory. So to make sure that the next generation continues to hold to that belief in European unity we need to make sure that Europe has a new project a new raison d'etre for the future. And I believe that can be by dealing with those challenges that can only be overcome by collective multilateral action. Climate action is first among those but others include things like security for example and the regulation and taxation of large companies many of which are now larger and more powerful than nation states. In my conversations with President von der Lein I've commended her on the leadership she's shown when it comes to the European Green Deal and assured her that she will have a friend and ally in Ireland in driving that forward. I believe that the European Green Deal isn't just a good environmental policy it's also a really good economic policy as well and we should strive as a European Union among the first to adopt new technologies and more importantly to be the people who invent them. It has the potential to unlock a new wave of investment innovation entrepreneurship to provide the economic opportunity of tomorrow. We face global crises and we'll be judged in the future by the decisions that we take today. And I endorse the objective of a climate neutral EU by 2050 and we must now ensure that the new EU budget and the work of the European Investment Bank and other bodies is directed towards achieving that goal. This action will help create an opportunity for green growth, new jobs, new businesses and a cleaner, more biodiverse environment. The transition to a climate neutral Europe will require a significant public and private investment and we're supportive of the plan by the European Investment Bank to invest a trillion euros in climate action and sustainability between 2021 and 2030. There will also need to be a just transition mechanism to assist the regions and industries most affected regions like our own midlands which will be affected as we move out of peat harvesting and burning peat for energy places like West Clare but also individuals in particular roles and while jobs may become redundant as a consequence of climate action people should never become redundant we must ensure that they have good severance packages and the opportunity for retraining and new jobs and better jobs in the new economy. Over the coming weeks of months we'll also have to agree a new EU budget for the next seven years, the MFF. As a country we want to see long established well functioning and successful policies such as the common agricultural policy cap cohesion, horizon, inter-reg and Erasmus Plus to be funded well. We also recognise the need for investment in meeting newer challenges such as migration security and of course climate action and we want to make sure that there's a dedicated funding stream within the European Green Deal for farmers to encourage them and pay them to do the right thing by our environment. We all know that Europe can and does make a difference for example we have an agreement already on a special allocation for peace plus programme worth about 100 million euros for Northern Ireland and the border counties. I think we can push that up a little bit higher and when you add in contributions from the Irish government and the UK government it could leverage a package of investment for Northern Ireland and our border counties worth as much as a billion euros over seven years and that would be a considerable boost I think to Northern Ireland and to the border. So what have we learned from the first phase of Brexit? First I think we've learned a lot about ourselves about the quality of our diplomats and our officials in Ireland and in embassies and consulates across Europe the quality of institutions such as this and other bodies, unions and employers groups that studied Brexit and followed it closely the quality of our media who reported Brexit so well. We've also learned about the value of having the right team and I hear I hope you'll join with me in paying tribute to the work of the Tawnishta Simon Coveney and Minister McIntee is here as well but I think most of all we've learned a lot about our friends in Europe. As the leader of a small country I felt enormous solidarity from our European partners so often we were told that the day would come when the big countries would get together and tell us what's what, it never did or that I'd be called into a room on a dark night and be told to sacrifice our tax policies or something else in return for solidarity not only did that never happen it was never even hinted at sometimes people in small countries believe that by joining a larger union they can get swallowed up I think the past few years have demonstrated again that the European Union is a union of nations as well as a union of peoples one in which small states are protected and respected and being at the heart of the European Union doesn't make us once until less Irish I do profanly regret that the UK is leaving but I absolutely respect their decision to do so I'm certain that no matter what both Ireland and the EU more broadly will continue to have an abiding relationship with our nearest neighbour the UK a real partnership in terms of politics, security and the economy into the future our objectives as Ireland and Europe for the first phase of Brexit have been met citizens rights are protected for those EU citizens living in the UK and for UK citizens living in the European Union we have a financial settlement there'll be no hard border on the island of Ireland the all island economy will continue to develop and Northside Cooperation as envisioned by the Good Friday Agreement can continue to thrive we've also secured the integrity of the single market and our place in it to reach an agreement both sides showed flexibility and both sides were prepared to compromise at crucial points in time we each took a leap of faith and trusted in the other to help us to achieve our aims and I believe this has to be a good sign for the next phase of negotiations our future relationship and of things to come it shows how inspiring the words of the anthem of Europe have become a reality for us in the 21st century so I look forward with confidence to the future of Ireland and the EU after Brexit and I do not underestimate the challenges and the risks but I believe we can meet those challenges and rise to them by working with our European partners and we can build an ever closer, safer, more prosperous and sustainable future for all of us thank you very much thank you very much Tishuk I'm now going to open these proceedings to the floor and I'll take person there name Ronan Tynan a filmmaker and member of the Institute Tishuk, I just want to ask you about promoting European values and human rights which you spoke very eloquently about there yesterday standing in the same position that you are now I asked me hall Martin would he allow his minister for foreign affairs to go to Russia as Minister Kovni did and smiling talk about increasing trade with Russia when as you're well aware the EU has sanctioned Russia over the annexation of Crimea the invasion of Ukraine and those sanctions were strengthened as you're aware when the Russians shot down MH17 a Malaysian passenger airliner which 300 people were killed but Tishuk at that time which is the reason that I was really upset about that Ronan I think you're coming to a question the question is Tishuk at that time Tishuk the Russians were bombing hospitals in Syria and the minister could not have been unaware of that fact and I would put it to you as a medical doctor do you have any words of support and solidarity with medical doctors being bombed in Syria doing the job you did and I would put it to you as well would you not feel a deep sense of betrayal if you had seen Minister Kovni smiling with Lavrov at a time when they are watching their colleagues being murdered and wounded doing those life saving jobs that they have in the most dangerous place on earth thank you thanks very much I think you started your question by talking about European values and I think sometimes people misinterpret the term European values or European way of life seeing it as some sort of superior thing or almost European nationalist concept it's not really like for me the European continent is different from other parts of the world and we do have distinct European values we have the European social market economy that's not the way America works America is an unbridled free market economy China has a form of state capitalism we're a continent that believes in equality between men and women not the norm in most of the world a continent that believes that democracy and the rule of law are the norm and that is not the case in much of the world including Russia which doesn't subscribe to European values in my view it's not a social market economy it doesn't respect equality not least for people who are LGBT it is not a functioning democracy and doesn't abide by the rule of law and for those reasons we have to be unafraid in challenging countries like Russia some of the countries in the Middle East in other parts of the world that don't subscribe to these values but I don't believe in a policy of boycott we have sanctions on Russia sanctions that we've renewed and I supported renewing them but I don't believe a policy of boycott would work and that means engagement so yes we will engage with Russia into the future but not for a second does that mean us turning a blind eye are failing to raise with them our objections to what's happening in Ukraine what's happening in Syria or the violation of human rights within that country itself thank you question over there possibly you don't need my one Blair Horne member of the institute thanks very much for your presentation just on the level of playing field conditions some of the speculation has been that in areas like state aid and environmental policy it might be dynamical and non-regression and I'm just wondering in the overall scheme including in terms of social and climate policy is the Irish position that it should be dynamic alignment on all 11 big field conditions or what areas are you possibly talking about non-aggression does the Irish position particularly in dynamic alignment on social and climate policy the Irish position will be that what we want is dynamic alignment rather non-aggression I think the UK would agree to non-aggression rather non-aggression non-aggression and you know something Prime Minister Johnson says to me and it's absolutely a fair comment he says do you really think that a wealthy prosperous Western European country like the UK is going to have lower wages than say Bulgaria or Romania and of course they're not so it's not so much a concern around regression that we would have in that area but it is that over time that we could become disaligned because European standards tend to rise you know if you look at one of the best things the European Union has achieved instead of race the bottom unfair competition among member states that gets corrected for through tariffs and barriers we've set a common set of minimum standards in lots of areas but they're rising standards and you know the Gothenburg pack and the European social policy all these things are all part of that and by agreeing a set of common standards they can rise and there is a risk that the UK may depart from that so it doesn't have to be absolute but my overall idea of a level playing field would be one of common amendment standards that continue to rise so that is I suppose another way of saying dynamic alignment and we do need to bear in mind that the UK is not Canada you know the kind of undercutting and unfair competition that could happen with the UK is quite different Canada is very far away and there's a big ocean in between so I think we need to bear that in mind when it comes to the next set of talks yes the new trade deal might resemble Canada but Canada's not the UK the UK is right here in our doorstep and it's 60 million people so it is different Thank you there's a question down at the back there I'm told Thank you Tishuk and thank you today for hosting this very important discussion My name is Selena Donnelly I work with Trocra we work overseas with communities that are experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis that they have contributed the least to I was very glad to hear you prioritise the need for collective action on our climate and biodiversity crisis My question is if re-elected will you ensure that Ireland immediately joins the group of EU member states that are calling for an increase in the EU's 2030 climate targets to at least 55% aiming for 65% reductions in line with the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and deliver an 8% a year annual reduction in emissions in the lifetime of the next government Thank you To give you a straight answer it's not a straight answer we're going to give an answer of yes and no yes we're absolutely part of the group of European countries that wants to show more ambition on climate action we're among the EU states that have signed up to being carbon neutral or climate neutral by 2050 in our own climate action plan we're predicting our planning for a reduction in our own emissions of somewhere between 2% and 3% a year and we set out in the climate action plan how we believe that can be achieved now that is being challenged the main opposition party is saying to us that our targets are not realistic particularly when it comes to electric vehicles now I don't agree with that I think it is possible to get to a million electric vehicles by 2030 I've seen how quickly new technologies like smartphones get adapted it's not a straight line curve it goes like this almost nobody has one than everyone does Ireland has a WhatsApp group at this stage every second one does almost nobody did a few years ago but the point I'm getting to is we've set a target of reducing our emissions by 2% to 3% a year which would be enough to honour obligations under the Paris Accords and we just about know how we're going to do that and people are critical of how we think we can do it they're actually saying that when you break down that 2% or 3% to actual things like the number of electric vehicles that were being over ambitious so how could I commit to 7% or 8% without knowing, we just about know how to do 2 or 3 how can you commit to 7 or 8 until you actually have some good idea as to how you'd actually achieve that and 8% a year over the period of a government assuming it goes full term is a 40% reduction in emissions I think it would be absolutely desirable and right to aim for that and achieve it but before you commit to that in law or in a genuine meaningful way you'd have to be able to show how you do it and you'd have to understand what the impact would be on people's livelihoods and on their jobs and on poverty and nobody who's asked me so far to sign up to a 7 or 8% target per annum or 40% over 5 years has been able to show me even a 3 or 4 page document that shows how that can be done and what the impact would be on our society Thank you Zeisha, is there a question over there? Thank you It's a microphone coming to you there Thank you Uno, do I remember of the institute Yesterday here, me hall Martin stressed the importance of connecting Europe and its citizens and some years ago at the IIA meeting in Brussels to which you spoke and also asked you about communicating Europe what are in the present atmosphere of populism and difficulties between for example in particular the EU and the UK what are your suggestions for the future on not just communicating Europe at European level and also at national level but also connecting Europe with its citizens Thank you That's a very good question I think there is still a perception that the European Union in many ways is remote from citizens and elitist I don't think that's fair but that's the way the European Union is often perceived more so in other countries than in this one One of the things we have done in Ireland which I think has been a successful is the citizens dialogue Minister McInty we're now talking at a European level of having a sort of convention another convention if you like or citizens assembly if you like on the future of Europe and I think that's a good idea done on a pan-European basis it's avoiding another IGC or another convention in the future of Europe in that sense but not ruling it out because treaty change may well be necessary at some point in the future but the purpose wouldn't be treaty change but the purpose would be to engage with citizens across Europe and see what kind of Europe that they want from us but I do think sometimes small things matter the kind of things that people really identify with as European citizens is the fact that with that Burgundy passport that that European citizenship gives you enormous freedom the freedom to travel anywhere in the EU without needing a visa the freedom to study anywhere in the EU the freedom to work anywhere in the EU is enormous that I think people become more aware of as UK citizens lose it and we need to remind them of that but it's other things as well again just talking to everyday people it's things like the roaming charges probably one of the best things that the European Parliament did and the European Union did was get rid of roaming charges something really practical and one of the things another thing of course is programs like Erasmus I think they say now that there are about 1.1 million Erasmus babies across the European Union people who met their partner or the father or mother of their child if not their partner on Erasmus so some of those programs are really powerful and I know it gets criticised but I think it's a really powerful one that has been initiated now is the interrail pass for young people and giving them that opportunity to travel around Europe when they're 17 or 18 or 19 those kind of formative years it's things in that space that we need to do a little bit more of but if you've suggestions I'm really open to it because it's something that we've grappled with for a very long time now we all celebrated the fact that the turnout in the European elections wasn't awful like it wasn't great either across the European Union and it's disappointing that when the European Union is so important that there is disengagement I used to like the idea that I would directly elect a president of the European Union but I become more sceptical about that but I still like the idea of transnationalists people actually voting in European elections not just for their local MEP or their MEP from their region but also voting for a panel on a transnationalist and that might require us to have a conversation about which European political party you'd support be an experiment but that's not on the cards just yet but there is some support for it anyway Tisha, what is on the cards is that from tomorrow the informal but constant relationship that we have had particularly with our nearest neighbour Great Britain because of joint membership of the European Union will no longer exist it's clear that Britain itself and England in particular is still suffering from this departure in so many different ways would you consider it an initiative that should be taken by the Irish side and by you as Tisha or your successor to construct a new relationship to fill that gap so that the way in which we have interacted for the last many many years since 1973 that relationship no longer exists how would you propose to try and fill that gap between Britain and Ireland something I've given some thought to and spoken to Prime Minister May about it before and more recently with Prime Minister Johnson and it is going to be a big change we joined the European Union together with the UK their leaving were staying it was kind of heading that way for a long time in a weird way I think that the ultimate decision that we made as a country when we voted for the Maastricht Treaty the decision to join the Euro without them that was pretty fundamental we went into the Euro they didn't and I don't think it was as a fundamental decision as we thought at the time but it turned out to be a pretty fundamental decision it's one thing to leave a European Union it's another thing to leave a currency Union and that decision is made that we're going in one direction and sadly they're going another but that really started I think with Maastricht and Brexit is just the next manifestation of that it is extraordinary how much things have changed in the UK that at that time there was a serious debate as to whether the UK would join the Euro or not how much things have changed in that country but it does require us to do two things at a European level we're losing a really like-minded country that had similar ideas and views to us on lots of issues trade tax the transatlantic relationship you name it and that means building new alliances and we're doing that very effectively already particularly with what we call the Nordic Baltic Group the Nordic countries and the three Baltic states who are small open trading economies a bit like ours also a little bit worried about the UK leaving and what that will mean for the European Union and that works very well on finance ministers level already and we do it in a slightly looser arrangement ahead of government level and one of the things I've been invited to in October is a meeting of the Nordic Baltic Council I hope I'll be in situ to attend but I think it is significant that Ireland has been invited to attend the Nordic Baltic meeting and one of the explanations given to me as to why we were invited by the Prime Minister of Estonia Yuri Rattus is hosting it is you don't have the UK anymore so we don't want you to be on your own in the room you might need new friends so I think that there is a potential alliance for us to build there but there are other alliances too that are important particularly for France around our nearest neighbour now in the European Union as of tonight particularly around agriculture and other issues where we are very aligned and also a lot of the Mediterranean countries so there are lots of alliances we can build up it's going to take a lot of work we will need to expand our diplomatic presence in all of those countries but I'm not answering your question we've had some discussions about this already and I think what we can do and should do is to use the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement which were really prophetic in so many ways so one of the first things I re-read when I became Thysiwch was the Good Friday Agreement and it's a visionary document it doesn't read like an international treaty at all it's extraordinary to read it and it of course talks about what they talked about at the time is the totality of relationships not just power sharing in Northern Ireland and Northside Cooperation but also Cooperation in the East-West context and there's the two institutions there the British Irish Council which involves Scotland and Wales and Channel Islands and Island Man but also the BIIGC the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference which has been underused in the past and Boris Johnson talks about beefing that up and I think that's the right approach too that we use that institution that already exists in the Good Friday Agreement and strengthen it and use it as the pivot around which we can strengthen relations between Ireland and Britain perhaps, you know, meeting in a planned way maybe every six months maybe one thing I've suggested is that every year we'd have almost like a joint cabinet meeting between the British Cabinet and the Irish Cabinet the French Germans have been doing this for ages we could do something like that to cement the relationship the other thing is expanding our own presence in the UK which has happened already we've reopened the consulate in Cardiff which had been closed during the crash and we're going to open one in the north of England haven't decided yet whether it'll be Liverpool or Manchester but again strengthening that relationship too Tisha, you've been very generous at your time and I know you have a busy schedule but there is one more question that has been put I gather from the floor indicate your name Chevelle Toner, thanks Tisha for coming you talk about the importance of the Erasmus program and how it is important for Irish students to go abroad but it also is important for students from Europe to come to Ireland but with increasing costs for that rents being atrocious at the moment travel expenses for students just everything Susie, not increasing how do you plan to attract these students with our institutions becoming more overcrowded and receiving less funding we are actually attracting a lot of international students to Ireland I don't know the exact figures but there's been substantial increase in the number of international students coming to Ireland not all from the European Union by any means I think one of the pluses one of the silver linings if you like from Brexit is that more Irish students might choose to do their Erasmus year in the UK now it's possible that the UK will stay in Erasmus but if it doesn't we might see more Irish students studying in Spain and France and Italy, I think that would be a plus and would probably help to improve our language competencies as well and perhaps will have more interest from EU students in coming to Irish universities rather than British ones particularly those who want to perfect their English Irish universities might become even more attractive than they are now but the point you make is a very valid one the cost of being a student here in Ireland and not just the cost of education but also the cost of travel and housing which is impacting on our own citizens as much as it does on students coming here to visit actual funding for universities I think has gone up by about 25% over the past three or four years it hasn't been caught I know the number of students has gone up as well but I often hear that said that funding for a higher level has been caught hasn't it's gone up by 25% I think in the last couple of years and we also have 300 million set aside from the surplus in the national training fund for that and that's there to be deployed in our own manifesto we have committed to increasing the thresholds for SUSE so that more people will qualify for the student grant we're also proposing that there should be no increase in the student registration fee over the course of the next five years which I hope would give some reassurance to people around costs and as well as that I think when it comes to accommodation what we really need is to support our universities to build a lot more on-site accommodation there's a huge amount of student accommodation being built in all our cities it's cropping up everywhere it's very welcome that we have it because it is freeing up housing and rental properties for others but it's also generally very expensive and most of the people in it are international students who must be relatively well off because they're able to afford it and that's not a criticism of student accommodation or international students by any means but it's not providing the low cost rental type accommodation that we should be having and that should be happening on our campuses and when I visited campuses all over Ireland from ITs to universities they all seemed to have plenty of land or a decent amount of land with a few exceptions so I think one of the things that we should do in the next government having tried out cost rental on publicly owned sites like the End of Scary Road and going to do it in Emma Road one of the obvious places where we could really make a big impact on cost rental is by building accommodation on the campuses of our ITs and universities thus providing accommodation for students at a lower rent but then that also affecting the market and requiring the market off campus to respond to that by not increasing rents or having lower rents as well Ishaq, thank you very much indeed I'm informed that you now have other commitments to make and we wish you all the best thank you very much