Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and thank our witnesses for attending. I have a couple of questions. On education, a number of contributors on the last day spoke about the religious ethos in education in Northern Ireland. Has Dr. Bergin's research shown up issues as regards that ethos?

A number of other contributors spoke of not meeting others from different religions and from a different ethos until they were 16 years of age. Is that feeding into the social and economic issues the research has shown up? Could Dr. Bergin comment on that?

In regard to health, I am very familiar with cross-Border health initiatives, particularly in relation to the Defence Forces, and I am not sure if Dr. Connolly has come across that in her research. PDFORRA has a scheme, PMAS, where many former and currently serving military personnel go to Northern Ireland for care. How does that fit into the waiting lists Dr. Connolly has come across in her research? She might comment on that. It seems that we are moving cross-Border to reduce our waiting lists.

In regard to foreign direct investment, Dr. Lawless spoke to our Brexit committee at the time. There was talk of advantages for Northern Ireland from the protocol in relation to foreign direct investment. Have these advantages appeared in the last year? Has there been any advantage from the protocol in relation to foreign direct investment? Will he comment on that?