Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in to the Good Friday committee today. It is my understanding that in order for the €20 billion reunification cost published in the witnesses’ recent study to occur, a number of assumptions need to be met. Some of them are, for example, that following a border poll, the Republic of Ireland Government would immediately agree to paying Northern Ireland’s share of UK debt; it would immediately agree to pay the entire pensions bill; it would immediately increase Irish social security payments and public sector pay levels in Northern Ireland to match those in the Republic of Ireland; and it would immediately incorporate Northern Ireland into a policy environment under which it would achieve no productivity growth for a period of 20 years. I do not think our or any future Irish Government would allow such a disastrous scenario to occur because it suggests absolutely zero prior planning. What is the value of placing such an extreme estimate in the public domain? What was the witnesses’ thinking on that?