Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our three guests. It is an extraordinarily important area of discussion. Being from near the Border myself and involved in friendship groups etc., I am a strong exponent of North-South co-operation and interactions at all levels as a basis ultimately to create a united people and good working relations in the meantime. It is disappointing to hear from Professor Ferguson that there are no North-South research collaboration projects in place at present because of the absence of an Administration in Northern Ireland. It once again underscores the importance of putting the Administration back in place. It is disturbing news. The only question I have arising from that is whether Professor Ferguson sees any potential to get around the absence of an Administration, although one would like to think that an Administration will be established soon.

If I understood correctly, though I may not have and it would be fine to have this clarified, I think Professor Ferguson expressed alarm that the contingency funds cited in the budget for research and development in the Border region in the event of a no-deal Brexit could negatively impact on the national funding. If I am wrong, please tell me. My humble opinion there is that the two are surely one in many regards and this should not be an issue. If there is a new discovery or breakthrough in Monaghan Mushrooms, Lakeland Dairies or Glanbia in Cavan, they are part of the national canvas. Will Professor Ferguson clarify that?

The question of cross-border student mobility is important and has been touched on by the Chair with regard to the practical areas of finance etc. It is my view that, as a committee, we should strongly support the signing of those memorandums of understanding in our report and talks with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to achieve seamless cross-border student mobility.

The witnesses stated that Brexit could lead to an increase in students and academic staff coming to study and work in Ireland from other EU countries. Does this raise capacity issues? Have Irish universities started to see an increase in the number of student and academic staff who might otherwise have gone to the UK? What needs to be done at Government or sectoral level to prepare for this? To what degree is this already becoming a reality? Can this be quantified? How will we deal with this in future?

It is wonderful to have the witnesses here. It is an exciting area and it must be the future. We have had so many examples of indigenous industries who have made great progress internationally through good research and development. There is huge potential in this regard and as the presentations note, this is critical to attracting inward investment. This has been one of our most important discussions in a long time.