Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, as a committee we are grappling with the report. We have looked for some further support from the Department on doing an economic review of the impact of the different scenarios and suggestions in Peter Cassells' report. We look forward to coming to a conclusion on that in the not too distant future.

I thank Deputy Byrne for agreeing to start the meeting and I apologise for being held up in the Chamber. I had the opportunity to read Dr. Thorn's opening statement and, from what I have heard, I understand there were plenty of excellent questions from my colleagues. I thank Dr. Thorn for coming before the committee. He has offered to come back in the future to speak about the ongoing work at the NCAD. We would be delighted to take Dr. Thorn up on that offer in the future. We wish him well in his role. It is a very important role and Dr. Thorn has rightly pointed out that the NCAD is one of the oldest institutions of education we have in the State. We have no doubt he will do a very good job in the role.