Mr. Colin McGrath:

They are incredibly important questions that impact students throughout the islands. To start in a slightly process-y way, the issue of higher education within the Northern Ireland Executive is dealt with by the Department for the Economy. The specific scrutiny, therefore, of issues pertaining to higher education will have taken place through that committee, although we get oversight of the issues. The Erasmus+ programme provided opportunities for young students to participate in a wide range of programmes and it was always of benefit to their education. Like the Senator, I am a bit shocked that when the opportunity was offered, it was not taken up. It would have provided continuity in the provision of those opportunities for young people. There are other facets of Erasmus+ that we need to explore. There are many connections between young people, not least in youth services. In my prior life as a youth worker, I availed of Erasmus+ programmes to bring groups of young people together. We need to explore whether those opportunities are still available.

A situation like this will highlight the importance of the North-South institutions. An infrastructure is in place through the Good Friday Agreement, which referenced the relationships there would be within the North, and then east-west and North-South. Back in the day, when the agreement was being drafted, obviously we were all part of the European Union and many of the institutions could work together seamlessly, but there is a role for them at this stage to take the lead and provide that continuity that Brexit has taken away. There are opportunities through the North-South Ministerial Council, whereby Ministers, North and South, can come together to iron out those difficulties and try to put difficult decisions at a ministerial level while putting ease of access to services for students at ground level. The Senator referred to the UK scheme, the Turing programme. It was highlighted to me that there could be a difficulty in that some of that will start to become intra-UK.

When that was part of a wider European network, there was always an opportunity for somebody in Bristol to look at Barcelona or somebody from Belfast to look at Berlin. Those opportunities were available. However, if we start to see too much of a focus on a single UK-based programme, we may end up seeing people staying within the UK as part of the schemes. For example, we were part of the European Solidarity Corps, which gives people, particularly young people and often students taking a year out, an opportunity to travel to other parts of Europe and volunteer with third sector organisations. Again, that option is not available now as a result of Brexit. London has said it will develop its own system but that will be intra-UK to such an extent that it will not be recognisable, nor will it meet the aims with regard to travel, language and culture that were part of many of the European programmes. All of those various elements will not be part of the scheme if it is internal to the UK. There are significant challenges for students. I think the institutions in the North should be tasked with dealing with those. What can the Oireachtas do to support that? It can push and ensure that the Irish Government works with Northern Government to make sure that these institutions are operational, which might require a fair bit of pressure at times.