Mr. Paul Hannigan:

We have mapped student mobility North and South. One of the initiatives that we have put in place has been to add on the foundation degree programmes that have been developed in the North West Regional College. For example, the Letterkenny Institute of Technology tops those off so that students can move after they have completed their programme in the North West Regional College rather than an entry level programme. The initiative has worked really well in terms of students moving south from the North.

I have a son studying in Northern Ireland and I will outline one thing that Irish universities might be interested in considering. When somebody from Donegal decides to study at Queen's University in Belfast he or she is deemed to be an international student and if offered a place on a college course today then he or she will be offered accommodation tomorrow with no questions asked. It is an advantage that students are picking up on and they can see the advantages.

Senator Byrne asked about the shared island unit. The unit has been very good at engaging with the sector and has listened to everybody. A lot of calls are made on its time in terms of where funding should go, how funding should be distributed, and what impact finding that could have. Obviously it is looking at a lot of significant infrastructural projects in the first instance. I think it is starting to now look at softer projects that can have a real impact on people. A lot of that can be delivered through collaboration across the further and higher education organisations and we are continuing discussions with the unit. It is a really good initiative but so many people are looking to get something out of it so we need some direction as to what is being funded and how it is being funded.