Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives of both institutions. We spend a good deal of time trying to find ways to bring about situations where people can work together and it is very encouraging that the two institutions represented are signing a memorandum of understanding and are well on the way to creating the type of co-operation and collaboration that we as a committee are about. I wish them well. I have never seen Deputy Colreavy so happy; they should come here more often. He is a proud man today because all week he had been telling me and everybody else who was prepared to listen that we had to be here and rightly so. Fair play to him.

The three areas the representatives mentioned of staff mobility, sharing and research and development and collaborative programmes in research is an excellent way to go about this process. We all share support for this project and its vision. The representatives mentioned that funding could become a problem but she also said that there is good co-operation between both jurisdictions and both Ministers in regard to the funding aspect. I hope they will use this committee at any time they need to in the future. If funding is necessitated for any type of a project, we will put our shoulder to the wheel and try to deliver it as part of the implementation of the wider remit of this committee.

What are the next steps? Will the representatives of the University of Ulster outline any similar work it is doing with other institutions on cross-Border co-operation in education or on an all-Ireland basis? There is no doubt in my mind that as we break down barriers many of those barriers were perceptions in people's minds and in the minds of those in different communities. As we break them down, we open up a whole new world of co-operation and collaboration. That has a huge role to play in education and education can be to the forefront in creating that type of co-operation as we move forward. I wish the representatives well and thank them for coming here. Hopefully, everything they are attempting to do will come about and will be much bigger and better as we move forward.