Mal O'Hara (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and committee members for their warm welcome. I also thank the witnesses for their presentations. I am excited to be a member of the committee

Today, we are talking about economic analysis in advance of a potential united Ireland. My first question concerns the research by Professor McGuinness and Dr. Bergin, in particular in respect of early school leavers and educational underachievement. I am thinking about intergenerational trauma and how we have failed to deal with legacy, how we have the poorest mental health in the UK in the North, wee have underspent on mental health services, how we have a high rate of suicide, how we have the biggest drug debts for men of a certain population outside of Scotland in western Europe, and those health inequalities. I want to tease out the issues around intergenerational trauma and that idea of a traumatised society. How do the witnesses think that has impacted on productivity, disposable income, poverty and living standards, educational underachievement and early school leavers?