Northern Ireland Economy

I will not go back over the happy bit, because we have got that dispensed with, and I think we are all suitably happy. My first point is that when we talk about rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy, there is a misconception that that means contracting the public sector and filling the gap with the private sector. If that is all we did we would be no better off. We would still have a cake the same size, but it would be divided differently. At present in Northern Ireland the public sector is too large relative to the private sector; but that is not a function of the public sector being too big. It is a function of the private sector being too small. If we are to improve the well-being of people in Northern Ireland we must grow the economy, but the part that must grow fastest is the private sector, because a certain level of provision for health, education, roads and so on, will always be required.