Mr. Mickey Brady:

I thank the speakers and commend the unions on the tremendous work they continue to do. Last week I attended the TUC conference in Liverpool. I spoke at a fringe meeting. I also had discussions with a number of unions such as the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and a few others. I have to say I was encouraged by their realisation that constitutional change is on its way. They can see the need for in-depth discussion on the subject and, for instance, setting up citizens' assemblies. That was encouraging.

More recently, this month Mr. Gerry Murphy, who is ICTU assistant general secretary, spoke on a document that outlines proposals to address the public sector finance crisis in the North. There were number of suggestions. I would like the witnesses to comment on some of them. Do the witnesses think the Barnett formula is redundant and should be replaced? Should Departments submit bids to the Treasury for specific projects? Should funding be established on a needs-based system? These are all proposals that warrant discussion.

This week I was on the picket line with lecturers in further education and higher education colleges who have been out on strike. The disparity between their wages and that of teachers is interesting.

In some cases, it amounts to approximately £7,000. Those lecturers come under the Department for the Economy, for some reason, not the Department of Education, which would seem to be more relevant.

There are a couple of other issues I want to mention. Mr. Gerry McCormack talked about the danger to the agrifood industry with regard to getting workers. I have been involved with mushroom growers in the North. Mushrooms represent approximately 40% of agrifood exports. The difficulty is getting migrant workers into the North because they only get six-month visas. The growers say it takes four to six months to train these people, so by the time they are trained, they are ready to leave. We have been lobbying to get visas for at least two years. That is ongoing. I think the unions may be involved in supporting that.

The other issue I will mention is something I have been dealing with for many years and continue to deal with daily. It is the state pensions that workers in the North get after they retire. A state pension in the North and Britain is the lowest in the developed world and continues to cause problems. The Tories will tell you that people should save, but if people live in a low-wage economy, it is virtually impossible to save. Many industries here do not have occupational pensions, so people are left with the state pension, which is basically the minimum. I want the witnesses to talk about that and maybe discuss what could be done to enhance the pension. There is a great disparity between pensions, North and South. Constitutional change is a great opportunity to deal with issues like pensions, workers' rights and a whole new social welfare system. It is an opportunity to deal with all these issues.