Mr. Stuart Anderson:

On education, we welcome two parts of this, namely, the continued access to the Horizon programme and to Erasmus. It is excellent for research and development and for the students on the island of Ireland themselves, as well as for how universities in the North can market themselves as a place to study and conduct research.

On corporation tax, the historical context is important. In 2015, in the Fresh Start agreement, the Executive parties agreed to lower the corporation tax rate and those powers were devolved. Things have changed since then; it predated the Brexit referendum. It was less of an issue when the UK Government was heading in a certain direction on the corporation tax rate, that is, towards 17% and the differential was narrower. The budget decision has reopened the debate. As far as our line is concerned, we are discussing this with members. Our request to the Northern Ireland Executive would be that it should re-examine Northern Ireland's competitiveness as it looks at its position on the global trading floor. As Mr. Connolly will confirm, we do speak to people, to investors, who are looking at Northern Ireland as a place to invest because of the protocol. Despite the challenges we have had, I am aware of conversations that have taken place discussing the advantages. Were the corporation tax brought into line with that of Ireland, it potentially would be a unique selling point. However, it should not be considered in isolation. We seriously need to address issues such as skills in Northern Ireland. However, it is not a case of one or the other but both ought to be considered in the round whenever we are talking about offering Northern Ireland as a place to invest.