Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 11 May 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
The Economics of Northern Ireland and the All-island Economy: Economic and Social Research Institute
Dr. Alan Barrett:
Let me just pick up one point, and then I will come quickly to the second one. On the issue of the subvention, and the Deputy quoted Professor John Doyle's paper, reasonable people can differ as to what is the scale of the subvention. Ultimately, the critical variable, as Dr. McGuinness has pointed out, is who will take responsibility for pension liabilities, and that will be a matter for negotiation were this to happen. Very sane and sensible people can disagree. That is why you can get figures of €3 billion and €10 billion. In a sense, nobody can be definitive about that because it would ultimately be, I think, an issue for discussion.