asked the Taoiseach if it is his intention to meet a delegation from the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions from Northern Ireland with a view to promoting cross-Border economic co-operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

: In the course of a letter I sent on 11 March to Mr. Colin Lowry, President of the Northern Ireland District Committee of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, I indicated that I should be glad to meet a delegation from the confederation to hear their views on how North-South economic co-operation, to which the Government are strongly committed, can best be developed. A response was recently received from the Harland and Wolff Shipbuilding Sub-Committee of the Northern Ireland District Committee indicating that they are anxious for a meeting. I hope that it will be possible to fix a mutually convenient date for a meeting with a confederation delegation next month.

In my letter to Mr. Lowry, I also said that both I and the Minister for Industry and Energy were strongly in favour of closer North-South co-operation where engineering companies in Northern Ireland have the capacity to supply needs in this part of the country. I indicated that in regard to business of interest to Harland and Wolff, it was intended to maintain contacts that had taken place with Mr. Parker, the new chairman and chief executive. This has been done. Appropriate preparations are also in hand, with Departments and agencies concerned, for the proposed meeting with the trade union delegation and, more generally, to provide a basis for co-ordinated implementation of the Government's policy in this area.