Ms Michelle Gildernew:

I would appreciate that; my camera is switched off. Senator Ó Donnghaile will speak after I ask a quick question. This has been excellent discussion with Dr. McGuinness and his colleagues busting some of the economic myths that we have been fed for a number of years. I thank the ESRI delegation for their measured and useful contributions. Comhghairdeas

I represent the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. We know that we cannot deliver every service in the constituency. Equally, we know that there are services that do need to be delivered in Belfast and Dublin. Thrombectomy care is available in Dublin on a 24-hour basis. However, the service is provided in Belfast from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday to Friday but if weekend work is required, patients must be sent to Dublin. That is a great because the service is not needed full time in the North and we can work collectively on the island of Ireland. A thrombectomy is not like thrombolytics, which consists of stroke-busting drugs and there is a four-hour window to deliver the treatment. The delivery of a thrombectomy has a 20-hour to 24-hour window so it is possible to provide the service on an all-island basis. Let us consider paediatric services, and some other specialisms. Earlier Deputy Conway-Walsh mentioned veterinary colleges and all so on. We should be more efficient. Dr. McGuinness hit the nail on the head when he mentioned that we are "unimaginative." We need to be imaginative when it comes to finding ways to make savings and work collaboratively across the island of Ireland in this transition period and we certainly need more information to assist us in that. We also need to learn from both the Brexit and Scottish referenda in terms of how we go forward.

I have a question for Dr. McGuinness about people who have contributed to pensions. I contribute to the British exchequer and expect it to honour my pension. Another interesting point was made concerning assets versus liabilities. We need to further explore the subvention, bust any myths and analyse the situation in-depth. Do we contribute to things like the Ministry of Defence? Britain has ring-fenced 2% of its overall funding for the Ministry of Defence and I presume we contribute to that, which is not something we would choose to do. We do not want to pay for Trident and, at the minute, we are contributing to it whether we like it or not. My question relates to what we are paying for that we do not benefit from or want to contribute to.