evidence: It estimated the divided school system in Northern Ireland cost £226m extra a year to the public purse. [...] The department called the Cost of Division report "a flawed and over simplified analysis of complex education issues that is misleading at a time when education for children and young people in Northern Ireland is seriously underfunded". [...] "The Department of Education agrees with CSSC's analysis of the Cost of Division paper which it considers to be a flawed and over simplified analysis of complex education issues that is misleading at a time when education for children and young people in Northern Ireland is seriously underfunded," a DE statement said.