Mr. Lewis Purser:

I shall pick up on a couple of those issues, as requested. Ireland is seen as a very good example across Europe in terms of the recognition of academic qualifications. Students who move around in other countries, as correctly identified by the Senator, face challenges when they return home. I mean in terms of having been abroad for a semester or a year and the recognition of their modules or whatever they bring back with them. That is not the case for Irish higher education institutions. We have good systems in place but, even more importantly, we have very good systems for recognising foreign qualifications when people come to Ireland either for the purposes of work or further study. We are an attractive destination for both purposes, as the Senator noted.

Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, is the quality and quality assurance agency and national agency. It maintains an excellent database on foreign qualifications. What they translate to on the Irish framework of qualifications and what they can most readily be compared with in terms of a qualification delivered by an Irish education institution whether that is further or higher education, a university, an institute of technology, etc. That example in Europe is admired by many countries. QQI is often solicited to talk about the issue and how to manage the situation. The Senator is right in saying that we sometimes have a problem in this country in terms of transfer and progression from further education to higher education, particularly from further education into the university world.

It is something of a double-edged sword because universities have quotas set aside for further education applicants but we have great trouble filling them. We are undertaking major work that is being led by the Irish Universities Association but with representatives from all the universities and in close consultation with SOLAS and the Department of Education and Skills. The aim is to try to remove many of the barriers that we have built up over the years. They make it too complicated and bureaucratic for further education award holders to progress easily and transparently to the university sector. This work is under way. We expect to see the results in several years' time. In the meantime, we still have places that we would like to fill. The process is rather difficult.

Reference was made to the need for greater flexibility in the delivery of reskilling and upskilling and the use of micro-credentials in particular. This is something we have been asking the Department of Education and Skills to consider as part of the human capital initiative. We hope to achieve our goal of using the additional investment or new money coming in through the employers' contribution to the national training fund to enable us to deliver or leverage our existing higher education provision in more flexible ways for people who need it. If this arises in a smaller way through micro-credentials, more flexible learning, part-time learning, etc., then it is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Deputy Durkan mentioned some of the challenges facing European democracy. We have ample evidence of it. The Deputy was in Romania in recent days and will have seen the demographic support around populism throughout Europe, from Romania to the United Kingdom to our country. Unfortunately, we know the demographics relating to that. However, those who are part of the younger and more educated demographic are far more likely to be pro-European, engaged citizens and progressive in terms of democratic involvement and so on. This is one of the positive societal outcomes of investing in education at every level. We have seen the role it plays. We have seen the role of our young people in driving the economy, innovation, social change and healthy societies. That is why we need to invest in the future for Ireland.

We have considerable support from our colleagues throughout Europe. One point mentioned was the possibility of a no-deal Brexit and the risks. While we have sorted out, at least in the short term and medium term, the mobility of staff and students across these islands - north, south, east and west - a disorderly Brexit would result in the United Kingdom crashing out of eligibility for European research funding. UK researchers are the biggest players and they are our biggest partners in research output. Not only are they Ireland's biggest partners but they happen to be the biggest and most important partners of many European countries, especially the smaller ones. This is an opportunity for Ireland as a small country, but one with an active and developing research and innovation scene on the industry side and on the higher education side. We could team up with some of the other countries looking for new partners. We have made some suggestions in our written submission to the committee about countries we see as useful when it comes to strengthening links in future. That is set out in the submission. We would be happy to work with the committee if it is receiving delegations or if members are visiting and would like the Irish Universities Association to brief them in advance on whatever they think would be useful.