Dr. Tom McDonnell:

Mr. Mac Flynn mentioned it is a different fiscal situation in Northern Ireland but one of the concerns is that the situation in the Republic of Ireland is potentially being masked by the potentially transitory corporation tax receipts that are about €11 billion in excess of what the Department of Finance can explain as of 2022. They may be a permanent boon with regard to higher tax receipts and those companies may have made their decisions about where they locate their assets and generate their corporate tax receipts, but we do not know yet. Therefore, it is another concern.

We also have an ageing population in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, so the number of working-age people relative to the number of people above the retirement age is going to decline in the decades to come. This is going to create additional fiscal pressure in the North and the South and will have implications for tax policy and public spending. It means it is all the more imperative that we deal with issues such as inactivity rates, employment and, ultimately, the productivity issue, which is a fundamental one for all economies and not just Northern Ireland. It is the fundamental issue in terms of generating well-being enhancements as the generations go by. Political issues are significant in this regard.