Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to join with the Chairman in welcoming our guests and thank them for outlining the issues that they believe face Derry and Donegal, which is an integral part of that wider economy. I endorse the comments made by my colleague, Senator Blaney.

Some years ago this committee visited Derry and Letterkenny, where we met different interest groups, local authorities, the mayor of Derry, the chair of Donegal County Council and the chief executives of the councils along with the president of the Letterkenny Institute of Technology and senior personnel of the University of Ulster. The one message that I got that day was the powerful influence for good generated by the third level education colleges in the north west, including Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Magee College and the University of Ulster. I come from a part of Ulster where, unfortunately, where we do not have as good a level of co-operation or as good an education infrastructure. The message was driven home to us that day how powerful a catalyst the education provision was in attracting investment to the region, as well as a very strong selling in strength to potential investors and people with particular knowledge and skills to come to live in the area, which I sincerely hope can be built on.

Recently, the Government announced that for the first time, the provision is being made under the new PEACE PLUS programme to deliver certain skills and initiatives on a cross-Border basis. That is a welcome development and it ties in with what Senator Blaney said about the shared island initiative, which is about promoting both third level and further education on a cross-Border and all-Ireland basis.

We hear of plenty of job vacancies at present. Do the witnesses see any particular skills issues in the north west that need to be addressed at present? I am a great believer in the further education sector. We should be delivering that sector and it should be more structured on an all-Ireland basis as well. Progress has been made at third level in terms of colleges, universities and institutes of technology co-operating with one another on an all-Ireland basis, and substantial funding is committed under the shared island initiative for research on that basis, between the different colleges in our State and in Northern Ireland.

Are there any issues the witnesses believe we should be pursuing at that time with regard to upskilling and equipping people for jobs the witnesses see emerging in the new green economy and the different economy we will have post Covid? If we are to tackle the many challenges we, as an island, will face post Covid, we need to be doing as much as possible on a cross-Border and all-Ireland basis.