Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh:

There are two things. First, there is a meet-and-greet element, which is important. Second, we really need to be conscious of international travel. We cannot bypass those public health requirements because, first, for society at large, that is a very important issue and, second, this is a very important support for our students. We do not by any means wish to bypass any of the requirements and we support all public health requirements in that regard, but in that context I think we could do more to support international students, first, as Dr. Ryan said, to plan ahead and, second, when they arrive, in how we might accommodate them in their isolation, quarantine and so on. We hope that in the Department's support package there will be support for those measures because, as Dr. Ryan said, they are important. It is about the learning experience and the talent. We should be open to all talent internationally and provide that opportunity. There are those two aspects: planning ahead and then working with students when they arrive while remaining conscious all the time of the public health advice and the fact that we need to work within those constraints. We are very supportive of those.