Ms Claire Hanna:

Grand. I thank the witnesses. As the Chair said, these are very interesting ideas. We obviously have a stalemate on devolution and the UK Government being away, but very little in the way of dynamism or ideas on innovation is coming from the political parties either. These contributions are therefore very welcome, particularly macroeconomic modelling, to help us think through what is and is not possible and achievable towards potential constitutional change. However, it is a case of unless and until.

I will pick up on three matters IBEC touched on. The first is around energy and, as was said, the urgency of keeping the lights on and being in the right place and ready for climate transition as well. The flux in the market explains some of it, but what are the governance gaps in getting us in the right place to properly take advantage and be ready for that? The North-South Ministerial Council was mentioned. Strand two is paralysed so in the short term that is not a useful place to do that. Is there a way to get through that governance gap in the short term?

On higher education, in particular higher education mobility and the ease of students moving North to South and South to North, IBEC's post-GFA report earlier this year referenced the agreement stemming emigration. That is still an issue, however. In the North especially, there is a dynamic of young people leaving the island for university. Some very much want to do that but some are doing it because they cannot get a place closer to home. Do the representatives have specific thoughts on that?

On the spillover economic benefits, is there anything else IBEC thinks needs to be addressed in terms of the post-Brexit borderism, which Dr. Farry touched on, and some of the not-as-foreseen barriers that are coming up post Brexit? Related to that, how do the witnesses feel we are ready for the Windsor Framework implementation, a lot of which is coming in the next few weeks? There are bound to be inevitable teething difficulties as some of the grace periods end and some of the new mechanisms take place. Is IBEC involved in conversations about the readiness for that?