Mr. Pat Larkin:

I am not suggesting we spend that carelessly. There are many really good homes for it. Much thinking has already been done around, for example, the campus, all-island collaboration and the various education programmes that have been talked about. There are really good homes for that with really good outcomes. It is really important to focus and say that based on the current norms we have seen, five times that would be returned in the medium term in terms of the opportunity.

If the State spends it, it will get it back, unlike other demands on Government spending. From an industry perspective, it is absolutely key that we separate the wheat from the chaff in respect of accredited programmes that employers and specialists can lean on and say they are high-quality programmes. It is also important for our international credibility that we do not simply articulate that we have generated X number of cybergraduates with the quality diverging greatly across them. We must be able to stand over who we call industry graduates. The broader point that has been well rehearsed here is that there is an opportunity or need to build cyber into every programme, including law, medicine or whatever, but that is different. It means enabling professionals with cybercapability while recognising that is not cyberaccreditation. It is just cyber-enabling and securing each of the professions and educational streams which is a distinct activity. I wholeheartedly endorse Professor O'Shea's view that, from an industry perspective, we definitely need quality assurance about the quality of education for cyberindustry graduates, apprentices or those coming through further education. We must have it in all the channels. It is important from the perspective of the talent pipeline that we exploit all channels of education, including higher education, further education and apprenticeships. The industry needs them all and there is a use and purpose in the industry for all those skills to come in. It is important that they are all quality assured.