Report claiming life's better in the Republic will boost cross-border 'cooperation agenda', says Irish deputy premier Simon Harris, as Unionists rubbish its conclusions
A Dublin report claiming life’s better in the Republic in almost every way will boost a cross-border “cooperation agenda”, the country’s deputy premier has said.
The comments from Tanaiste Simon Harris came as unionists rubbished the report’s conclusions, with senior figures dismissing it as using “selective statistics” to fuel “one-sided propaganda”.
And Ulster Unionist economy spokeswoman, MLA Diana Armstrong, pointed out that while wages may be higher in Dublin, so is the cost of living and especially housing, plus the Republic charges its citizens for health care instead of providing it free at the point of the use as the UK does.
Launched today, the report was put together by Dublin-based body the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Department of the Taoiseach’s Shared Island Unit, which was created to smooth cross-border and cross-community working.
The report’s the first in a yearly series that’s billed as “monitoring and analysing economic trends across the island of Ireland”, but also directly compares Northern Ireland with the Republic – and finds the province wanting.
Over the border, it claims, wages, living standards and disposable income are all higher, as is participation in the labour force. Even life expectancy is greater; on average men live two years longer in the Republic, the report states, and women an extra 18 months.
Just about the only measure on which Northern Ireland does better is unemployment; the rate here is roughly a quarter of that over the border.
Launching the report, Mr Harris said the annual series will be “exactly what we need to help inform and deepen the cooperation agenda, and indeed a wider island-wide conversation”, stating it would “spur debate”.
He added: “We are firmly committed to bringing island-wide cooperation to an even more strategic level in the time ahead.”
But Mrs Armstrong argued that while the report’s comparisons “might make a good headline”, they don’t reflect the full reality of everyday life.
“Housing, childcare, and insurance costs in the Republic are among Europe’s highest, making higher wages a necessity,” she told the News Letter.
“Northern Ireland offers more affordable living while remaining part of the UK, the world’s sixth-largest economy. You need only ask what the average young person is paying in rent in Belfast compared to Dublin.”
She added that although the Republic’s population grew several times faster than Northern Ireland’s between 2015 and last year, that was “driven by immigrants filling labour market shortages”.
“The Republic sees high emigration, with around 40,000 people leaving annually,” she said. “Many of them are talented young people escaping high living costs and sick of living with their parents.”
The first annual report was branded "one-sided propaganda" by TUV leader Jim Allister MP, who argued it was giving a slanted view that suited the Irish government.
And the DUP felt it glosses over financially onerous parts of life in the Republic, such as paying for medical care.
Some pensioners qualify for free care over the border, but not all; everyone else is expected to open their wallets if they need to see a GP or use an ambulance, while hospital stays accrue per-day fees. No major party in the Republic talks about free health care for all, though some want to tinker around the edges by adjusting the number of people who do qualify.