Ms Michelle Gildernew:

I have been here in the office and the phone has been going constantly. I have not been able to keep as close an eye on the meeting as I would have liked. I have been listening carefully, though, from the beginning. I heard what was said in the opening statement about the two economies, North and South, having their own strengths and weaknesses and NERI comparing them to other economies. In this regard, some of the Scandinavian countries have policies we would like to emulate down the line post-unity. I refer to where there are strengths and weaknesses and mitigating them through unification. In this context, we still wish to ensure that our equality measures are front and centre in everything we do.

I tweeted a graphic this morning that is relevant to today’s discussion. A teacher’s starting salary in the North is just over £24,000; in Wales, it is just over £30,000; and in England, it is £30,000. The North is the lowest. In Scotland, it is £32,000 and in the rest of Ireland, it is almost £34,000. We have £24,137 and the South has £33,735. Like Brendan, I live in a Border constituency. I am closer to Emyvale than Cookstown. For any teachers looking at the lifestyle they would likely have on a Northern wage compared with a Southern wage, it is no-brainer to think they would be looking for work across the Border. I am sure the NERI has indicators on many different professions. We are certainly struggling in terms of healthcare workers. I note there are disparities between nurses’ starting salaries here and the rest of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Can the witnesses give us a flavour of where they are in all that research? Can it be shared with us? Are there specific gaps in starting salaries that we should be aware of? I thank them for their interesting contributions. If they could answer that, I would be deeply grateful.