Dr. Alan Barrett:

I will offer a quick response to the Cathaoirleach's question. My colleagues may wish to respond afterwards. Dr. McGuinness and Dr. Bergin might be in a position to share the precise numbers but a significant proportion of kids in Northern Ireland go to the UK for third level education and tend to stay there. One of the defining features of the Irish economy has been an interesting flow. We have had plenty of brain drains over time. It has been a defining feature of the country. However, a certain proportion of people, during the Celtic tiger period and at other times, have come back to the Republic in a way that has not happened in Northern Ireland.

There is another important point here. We have observed in data that the group of people who come back to Ireland tend to have higher earnings than the people who never went away. It seems that in the Irish labour market, having foreign skills is always valued. That is understandable in a highly globalised labour market. People have gone away and accumulated skills, competencies and all sorts of experiences. When they bring them back, they offer a new dynamic in the economy of the Republic of Ireland. We are now seeing that not only with regard to returning migrants. Immigrants in the Republic of Ireland are a very highly qualified group of people. They provide another injection of skill, talent and ingenuity that Northern Ireland does not seem to be enjoying. There are issues in respect of the movement of people, migration, return migration and inward migration. It is all part of the mix.