Dr. Bryan Maguire:

I will come in on response to the Senator's question on micro-credentials, which are obviously a key part of trying to respond to the emerging needs of industry and the skills market. The key to QQI support for these actually goes back to that same national framework for qualifications that was referred to in the earlier questions.

The framework has accommodated micro-credentials, albeit under a different name, since its inception. It would be a special purpose award. It is not, therefore, just degrees and major qualifications. It is, in fact, that we have a system that can allow the generation of micro-credentials. We know that the Irish Universities Association, for example, currently has the multi-campus micro-credentials project under the human capital initiative of €12.3 million to develop qualifications. It is working with QQI to ensure to find the best way to make these framework-friendly, as it were, in order that they will be widely recognised, portable and not just industry oriented, which is key, but that they will also build up the learners' portfolio and give them some lifelong achievements to take with them through their careers.