Dr. Adele Bergin:

It is wrong to view the subvention through the lens of it being a static figure of €9.2 billion that bits can be taken from with varying degrees of certainty. Lower productivity in the North creates the need for a subvention in the first place. Another point here is that irrespective of constitutional change, would it not be desirable to have policies in place that would improve Northern Ireland's productivity, education and overall living standards to reduce the need for a subvention? One of the goals should be to put policies in place that would improve people's living standards, irrespective of the constitutional question. That is a really important point to bear in mind.