Ms Claire Hanna:

I thank the contributors for their evidence and submissions, which were interesting. There are two issues I wish to ask them about. They referred to Northern Ireland's heavy reliance on UK subventions. Do they have any thoughts, as we try to manage convergence, on the process of ideally synchronising economies, North and South?

What sort of further devolution of fiscal powers should Northern Ireland consider trying to get and make best use of? Do the witnesses have any thoughts on the loss of Structural Funds? It is still a little up in the air in terms of the shared prosperity fund that is proposed to replace Structural Funds. Have the witnesses any thoughts on the loss of the previous funding stream in terms of infrastructure?

I was struck by how highly the witnesses rank the challenges. I agree about the inadequacies in Northern Ireland's education system. I was struck by how firmly they linked academic selection and streaming to those economic challenges. There is probably no such thing as a quick fix but do the witnesses agree with the kind of proposals in New Decade, New Approach for a Bengoa review of education? Is there anything specific the witnesses would point to in respect of that?