Ms Mary McGarry:

The Deputy might recall that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, referred to the NTF in his budget speech and his commitment to looking at exploring new ways of meeting the demands for the higher and further education sectors from the NTF and unlocking that NTF surplus. The Deputy will be aware that we and our colleagues in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment did some work on proposal during the year. However, there is an overall budgetary scenario at the moment because it is included within our ceiling. Our Minister, Deputy Harris, has written to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, so we are ready to work with colleagues and explore the options for the framework of the NTF legislation and whatever is needed.