Mr. Ned Costello:

I would like to make a number of closing comments, including on the issue raised by the Chairman. I refer to diversity in the system. One of the strengths of the Irish system historically is that it has been a diverse system and we do not want to lose that. It has also been a less well co-ordinated system and the direction in national policy is towards a diverse but better co-ordinated system. Two aspects are important in that regard. The first is that there used to be a great deal of talk about parity of esteem among institutions. The benefit of the HEA's strategic dialogue and compacts process is that it asks institutions how well they fulfil their chosen mission and their standing will ultimately be determined by how well they do so within a system of diverse but co-ordinated institutions. We do not want institutions all doing the same thing.

However, we would like to provide the committee with an additional note on the question of access and diversity of entry routes, which the Chairman raised, because there has been significant activity in that space in the university sector. Time does not permit a discussion but we can provide a note.