Dr. Adele Bergin:

There were many questions but I will try to address each of them. There was a question on whether we have detected any change in the educational profile in Northern Ireland. When we examine the educational attainment of people between 25 and 29, we see an increase in the number of high attainers, or people with degrees, over time. The gap between the North and South has been narrowing somewhat, so we do see some convergence at the top end of the education distribution. The biggest gap is at the lower end. In the Republic in the past 20 years, we have seen levels of low educational achievement falling over time. The proportion of people with only a primary or lower secondary education has been coming down quite steadily over time whereas in Northern Ireland that percentage has remained constant. That is where we see the biggest gap.

There were a couple of questions on religion and religious ethos. In the work we did, namely the quantitative analysis, we were not able to separate out by religious background; however, as part of our work we interviewed a wide range of stakeholders. There was definitely a perception that working-class Protestant boys were more adversely impacted. Overall, our work highlights that segregation, through academic selection, into grammar and non-grammar schools is the main issue.

On the question relating to the wage premium, we find that returns to education in Ireland substantially exceed those in Northern Ireland at all levels of education. There is a gap of around 30 percentage points between the North and South. However, we find the gap is smallest in respect of the equivalent of post-leaving certificate qualifications. This could hint at an insufficient supply of post-leaving-certificate-type courses in Northern Ireland.