Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the two Ministers and thank them for engaging with the committee. I also welcome the comments of the Minister on the CAO process. Despite all the difficulties we had in implementing the system this year it still must be recognised that this year there will be more people getting their first choice than in any other year.

That must be said as it is not often heard.

I welcome the comments about apprenticeships. I was a teacher in a DEIS school for over ten years and I suppose there is a message that a person does not need to aspire to a third level or master's degree and there are plenty of other choices for people. That should be reinforced time and again, so I welcome those comments.

I will focus on the Brexit aspect of today's briefing. Brexit and the exit of the UK from the EU poses significant risks and challenges to us here in Ireland. However, in every difficulty there is also opportunity and in 2021, Ireland will be the only English language-speaking nation in the EU, which will undoubtedly serve us well in attracting thousands of international students to our shores. Not only that but significant opportunities will present in terms of attracting other academics and staff from UK-based universities. There is much to be optimistic about when it comes to the opportunities that may be presented to us by Brexit.

That said, Brexit poses a number of significant challenges for us. In 2017, the number of Irish applicants hoping to study in the UK fell by 31%. The figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service in the UK for 2018 and 2019 suggest that EU applicants as a whole to the UK are down by approximately 7%. The decline in both Irish and EU student applications is undoubtedly connected to Brexit. Ireland only represents 9% of the applications from the EU to third level institutions in the UK where it previously would have represented approximately 15%. The decline in the numbers is clearly connected to Brexit.

My concern is that these consequences will place greater pressures on us at home to educate third level students. Funding for Irish universities has increased in the past few years but almost a decade of cuts has undermined the sustainability of the higher education system in Ireland. A deficit in funding for the sector is a significant challenge. Despite a significant increase in third level students, leaving their number at an all-time high, the higher education sector in Ireland remains dramatically underfunded.

That said, there is opportunity for Ireland in that nearly 2,500 academics from EU countries have resigned their positions in UK universities in the past few years. Will the Minister clarify if the UK will remain in the EU research programmes post-Brexit? In 2017, the UK received over 15% of EU framework programme awards, as well as 20% of all European Research Council awards. Will the Minister comment on what opportunities exist for us in Ireland to attract a portion of that investment?

Will the Minister also comment on the Erasmus programme? The aim of this programme is not solely educational and it is also about promoting integration and mobility between EU countries. In 2018 the UK received almost 30,000 EU students on Erasmus programmes, so will the Minister also comment on the efforts being made to attract this cohort of students to Ireland?