Ms Claire Hanna:

I thank the witnesses for the material they have shared and their input. From my perspective and that of the SDLP, we are very keen not to go down the route of talking about sunlit uplands and to be honest about the challenge. We accept of course that there is a subvention, as is completely normal for any region outside a capital. As the witnesses' report outlined, the scale of it, though debatable, is precisely because of our sluggish economy. Our party is taking its current approach to unification because we know that the region and its people are very limited by the framework under which we are operating. We want to tap into the more open and dynamic economy that exists on this island and one that is more fully integrated in the EU. As others have indicated, in the report the witnesses do not analyse the impact on the economy that unification would have, but they delve into issues like potential negotiating scenarios post unification. While we cannot be Panglossian, it is a fairly pessimistic outcome. It is legitimate for us to point that out while at the same time pointing out the need for much more data, more analysis and interrogation of it.

Others have referred to some of the specific indicators which highlight how poorly our economy is doing, particularly some of John Doyle's figures around 40% lower productivity, and that we have only one fifth of the number of FDI-based jobs and similar ratios in tourism. The SDLP is pursuing this precisely because we want to have the vision and the tools to correct those issues.

The witnesses referred to education and the undoubted flaws in the Northern education system in terms of duplication and particularly the poor outcomes for those who do not get into grammar schools based on the fairly arbitrary selection at the age of ten or 11. Aside from education, what factors would hinder the North's economy in the event of unification if we were able to apply, as we would be able to, the same tax regime and the same policy framework in terms of investment in skills and in terms of immigration because access to talent is very much an issue for Northern businesses at the moment? In that scenario, what other factors would hinder our economy, assuming we apply the same framework? There is, of course, the debate over the scale of the subvention and, as I say, we accept that it exists. What can be done to get better access to the data on that? Is the information sufficiently in the public domain to allow people to make a fair assessment of what that subvention would look like?