Dr. Anthony Soares:

I thank the Senator for her question. We need to know what is out there in terms of short-term mobility, that is, not the full enrolment and someone going and studying full time in other jurisdictions. We also need to take into account what is happening in terms of students, as part of their courses, spending part of the course as a sandwich course or even work placements in the other jurisdiction and with apprenticeships and vocational training. We need to look at and promote that. One of the easiest ways perhaps to increase North-South student mobility both ways is around postgraduates. Under the shared Ireland initiative, the North-South research programme has increased the collaboration and activity between institutions, North and South. We should invest in research programmes to include within it and the ability of postgraduate students to cross into the other jurisdiction.

We should look at the context in the two jurisdictions currently. We also have to think about the wider picture and what is happening now in the student populations, North and South. For 2021-22, 75% of postgraduate enrolments in southern institutions were from this jurisdiction. They are Republic of Ireland, ROI, domiciled. If we look at total postgraduate enrolment in the same year for Northern Ireland, 50% of postgraduate students in northern institutions were from Northern Ireland. There is a huge differential in terms of who postgraduate students in Northern Ireland are. Then one starts looking at where the other ones are coming from. This is not just Northern Ireland; this is UK-wide. There is an expansion in international students. They are now increasingly becoming part of that population at undergraduate and postgraduate level. We have to think about the matter in that wider context. It reflects on the funding models as well and how institutions are funded. Is it supportive and encouraging for North-South co-operation and mobility in this sector? We need to take that into account as well.