Professor Edgar Morgenroth:

We do have more up-to-date data in the paper. In terms of what Mr. Fitzgerald just said on it getting worse, if we look at what has happened since the Executive came back, one of the first things that was agreed across the parties was to look for more money from Westminster. They did not look for a lower subvention but a higher subvention. The First Minister came to Dublin to discuss the potential of joint infrastructure projects such as the A5. This makes the subvention not smaller but bigger. In the negotiations to bring the Assembly back the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland indicated there possibly may be more money available for certain things. Again, this makes the subvention higher. If anything, it is going in the wrong direction. In terms of the commentary and the conclusions we draw, we just used the 2019 data because they are not affected by Covid extra payments. Every jurisdiction saw public expenditure increase during that period. It would not be fair to Northern Ireland to take that subvention so we stuck with the 2019 figures. In terms of what is happening at present, if anything it is going in the wrong direction.