Steve Aiken said that the Republic faces significant problems for a variety of reasons

That is the view from the UUP’s economics spokesman Steve Aiken, speaking after Office for National Statistics data demonstrated that, per head of population, Northern Irish people receive about £2,200 more each year in public money than the UK average.

The figures compare all the component countries of the UK, and the various within regions of England, against one another in terms of all public cash spent, covering benefits, NHS treatments, policing and security, transport, the environment, and more.

For Northern Ireland, this is then divided by its roughly 1.86m residents to get the per person level of spending.

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For 2016/17 this was £13,954 per person in the Province.

The second highest region was Scotland, with £13,237.

The lowest was the East of England region, at £ 10,649.

The overall average for the UK as a whole was £11,742.

The picture is quite familiar; Northern Ireland also topped the spending table in 2014/15, and 2015/16 too.

The Province is a net drain on the coffers of the UK as a whole, not a net contributor.

Mr Aiken, UUP MLA for South Antrim, said of the UK: “We’re part of a very successful global nation. The real question is why would anybody want to leave such a successful country as the UK to go to the Republic of Ireland?

“How could the Republic of Ireland, without massive subventions from the European Union, even consider looking at bringing Northern Ireland on to the same level of services and support that it would have as part of the UK?”

As to whether the EU is ever going to stump up such subsidies, he said: “No, of course they’re not.”

The notion of a unified Republic continuing the same high level of spending in Northern Ireland’s six counties is made even less tenable by a string of factors that show“they have significant problems” ahead, he said.

For one, the Republic “now needs to be a net contributor to the EU budget”, with media reports claiming its contribution could rise significantly after Brexit.

Added to that are the effects Brexit itself may have on the economy, drives to bring the work of US-based firms’ back to America, signs of a “property bubble” in the Republic, plus EU challenges to Ireland’s very low corporation tax rate (long a mainstay of its economic policy, aimed at drawing in foreign firms).

“For anybody rationally looking at it, Northern Ireland remaining part of the great UK is very definitely the way ahead,” said Mr Aiken.

This is only the second time that such a release has been produced by the ONS.

In all, they show just over £26bn of public expenditure in Northern Ireland in 2016/17.

In terms of where this went, the breakdown includes £4.19bn spent on health (compared to £6.99bn in Wales, the next highest region), and £1.27bn spent on “public order and safety” such courts, prisons and emergency services (almost as high as the £1.34bn spent in Wales, which has about an extra 1.3 million people living in it).

Among the figures nestled deep in the Office for National Statistics release are that in 2016/17 in Northern Ireland, £9.17bn went on a category called “social protection”, including such things as benefits.

Breaking this down, when it comes to sickness and disability benefits and support, £2.82bn was spent in Northern Ireland – higher than the £2.59bn spent in the North East of England, which has a population of about 2.6 million.

In terms of sickness and disability spending per head of population, Northern Ireland by far leads the way in the UK with £1,509.83 spent per capita, compared with the next highest, Wales, with £1,077.61.