Mr. Eoghan Duffy:

I will make two points. First, I want to emphasise our really valuable and worthwhile engagement with all the cross-Border local authority groupings. There were four and they are in the shared island chapter of the NDP. That part of the NDP draws out the alignment of the strategic objectives that the cross-Border local authorities have set themselves with the national objectives set by the Government in the NDP in terms of cross-Border investment co-operation. There is real alignment in those areas which is why, as Ms O'Donoghue said, we really see potential to work with the local authorities which are working already on a cross-Border basis, accessing funding around PEACE PLUS, the shared island fund and so on. That is a major area of work both with overall cross-Border initiatives but also potentially subregional groupings between two or more county councils.

Applications are being assessed by the SCoTENS committee at the moment. The themes it is focusing on for this round are educational underachievement and teaching and learning and curriculum delivery themes with a focus on learning from others on a shared island. It is not specifically looking at the professional requirements that were mentioned. ESRI research looking at the education sectors on the island more broadly is also being finalised. That is more focused on educational outcomes and student pathways North and South, and so on, than on professional criteria. The Senator's point is important and it has an impact on mobility of teachers on the island. It is something think about for another programme of work, perhaps.

Professor Heenan's research on healthcare co-operation on the island proved to be really useful. It was an input into the shared island dialogue engagement that we had on health in June with the Minister for Health and 130 health stakeholders. It really contributed to that discussion. The views and perspectives of health sector stakeholders that were brought forward in Professor Heenan's research are also very instructive in thinking along a medium-term timeframe about how healthcare co-operation on the island could be deepened. That is something we have been reflecting on, as have our colleagues in the Department of Health. I think it was well received by the stakeholders in the sector in that dialogue. It was a useful piece of work from our perspective.