Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor McGuinness. Before I open it up, if it is agreed, maybe we will extend the slots to 15 minutes because there are a lot of very important issues here for each group.

I am not an economist and I am certainly not a professor, so I would not dare to challenge the assumptions that anybody makes from that perspective. However, I would like to think that maybe we could see where we could converge, what we could agree on, and things we can agree on. The educational issue is huge, and how to improve the economy in the interim. Those issues are critical. I am not making a political judgment on that but maybe we can concentrate on how we can improve things North and South to lead in to the issues that are disputed.

I very much respect our witnesses who may hold a view contrary to that of other people. It is right that we have that debate here. That is what brings life to economics and jumps off the page. It is what people are interested in because it is a key issue. The points Professor McGuinness raised are absolutely key. What is the reality and what will it be?

Let us drill down into the facts. To do so, we need experts like those present to inform us.

We will rotate speakers in the following order: Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the SDLP, the Alliance Party, Sinn Féin, the Independents and so on. We will get everybody in. Sinn Féin is first and will have 15 minutes.