An Oireachtas committee has heard that workers in the Republic of Ireland are 40% more productive than those in Northern Ireland.
The gap is considerably greater in monetary terms, with Northern Ireland’s per capita income being less than half of that of the Republic of Ireland’s.
Dr. Alan Barrett, CEO of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), stated that productivity in the two countries had been similar soon after the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was signed in 1998.
Since then, productivity has increased in the South as it has gotten closer to standards set by the European Union, but it has decreased in the North as it has failed to get closer to standards set by the UK.
In order to examine the island economy, members of the ESRI appeared before the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Dr. Seamus McGuinness warned that prior to any vote on reunification, people should be aware of the variations in standard of living and general wellbeing on either side of the border as well as how they would evolve in the case of reunification.
Significantly more people in Northern Ireland are at risk of poverty (14.3%) than are in the Republic (8.9%), Dr Barrett revealed.
While those south of the border live on average a year and a half longer, he added, noting that these figures “come as a surprise to an awful lot of people”.
The authors said that the ESRI was attempting to fix the lack of data comparing the two economies.
Dr. McGuiness emphasised the North’s lack of one policy across government agencies.
But he also pointed out severe structural problems, notably in education, that require additional funds, not just better coordination, to be resolved.
Dr. Adele Bergin stated that the single most important element affecting a person’s access to education is their socioeconomic status.
But compared to the Republic, Northern Ireland has a social class effect on academic success that is three times bigger.
Dr. Bergin highlighted the DEIS program’s success of reducing the number of students dropping out of school prematurely to around half the amount seen in Northern Ireland.
Three times as many individuals in the Republic are qualified for higher education, which, as she pointed out, is partially a result of the growing acceptance of Post-Leaving Cert courses and the status now connected to education.