Dr. Seamus McGuinness:

With regard to similar policies that have had different outcomes, in the past 20 years there have been educational expansion policies in both jurisdictions. They have had very different outcomes, as we have seen. There is early school leaving and there is a lack of post-secondary education. The expansion of education in the Republic has been done in a socially cohesive way where an eye has been kept on the fact there needs to be a policy to facilitate children from working-class backgrounds in particular to keep them in school and to encourage them into higher education. The DEIS programme at the lower end and the development of the post-leaving certificate programme at the other end have ensured educational attainment has expanded in a more socially just way.

In the North there has been educational expansion but there has been a much less progressive aspect to it. Children in the North are less likely exceed the educational levels of their parents despite them having much lower levels of education compared with the Republic. We have to ask the reasons for this. There is underfunding and the role of academic selection, which now explicitly excludes children who are not prepared in schools for the transfer test. The only way children can prepare is by going to private tuition, which costs £20 to £30 per hour. This is outside the realm of many families. It is active social exclusion in the educational system. These are two policies that have been implemented differently. They have a similar objective but they have had very different outcomes.

The question on low-lying fruit is very difficult. When we think about an island of this size having two health systems, it is not rocket science to say there is massive duplication and there would be economies of scale to be gained from having a more integrated approach in that sense. There is also the all-Ireland labour market, which has been affected by Brexit. There are potential barriers in terms of the quality of the infrastructure and the rail service. I wanted to get the train from Newry today but I had to get a lift because there was a 70-minute delay in the train service. It is unacceptably poor.

There are tax difficulties with cross-Border employment that need to be looked at, particularly from South to North. This aspect of the all-Ireland labour market is crucial. The Republic is growing at a much faster rate to the North and requires highly skilled labour. Having the North sitting there as a potential source should be a policy objective. Policy should address the issues and ask what are the barriers to the all-Ireland labour market and how we can address them.