Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are all very welcome. I thank them for the contributions they have made so far. I thank Professor McKenna for having outlined in his statement all the different pieces of work the Royal Irish Academy has done. That was very valuable, as were the other statements, in informing what we are trying to do here.

In his opening statement Professor McKenna points out that CORU does not extend the accreditation process to universities and other institutes in the North, meaning that students from the South who study and train must go through the complex and cumbersome accreditation process if they want to work in the South. It is important to note that students from the North face the same challenge if they want to work in the South. I suggest at this point that the committee write to CORU as an independent regulator and request that it extend the accreditation process to HEIs in the South. There may be specific reasons that cannot be done or delays or blocks in that regard, but this is a very serious matter, considering not only individual opportunities but also our labour force needs at the moment.

Could Professor McKenna walk us through why he believes the conversion of A-level to CAO points is such a barrier to cross-Border student enrolment from North to South and why the Royal Irish Academy recommends an annual review of the A-level conversion to CAO points? Does Professor McKenna believe there should be centrally co-ordinated outreach and information campaigns North and South, rather than leaving this solely to HEIs, which has not worked to date? I know there are valid reasons for that.

Another question I want to ask is about the decision-making procedure for the inclusion of further and higher education in the North-South Ministerial Council. What do the witnesses think are the potential blockages there and the challenges to having the further and higher education remit included within the North-South Ministerial Council?

I will just say to Mr. McKendry from CAFRE that it really fascinated me when I came across the equestrian school in Enniskillen and saw how it is managing to achieve almost a 50:50 split. I know he has referred to some of this in his statement, but why does Mr. McKendry believe that is the case? What lessons could what has been achieved there teach the wider higher education sector?

Those are my initial questions.