Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in. It has been a very interesting session between our other guests this morning and our guests this afternoon. I thank them for their time. One of the issues that was raised this morning, and I do not want to focus only on guidance counsellors because I do not think that everything here is in their realm of responsibility, is whether there is a role for an expansion of the guidance counsellor role specifically in this regard. One of the issues our guests this morning raised was that they were of the opinion that this should start around transition year in the South. That makes sense if you think about it because at that point students are picking their subjects that they need to do for the leaving certificate to go on to study in third level. The guests' opinion on that would be most welcome.

Another issue that was brought up, which makes quite a bit of sense, is the prospect of a one-stop shop website where there would be a very clearly defined roadmap of options for students in the North who want to study in the South and students in the South who want to study in the North.

We spoke at some length this morning about the sharing of information and collaboration where that can be further explored to create those networks between institutions both North and South. One of the suggestions put forward was shared academic programmes, or research partnerships. Will the guests comment on the potential for them, or on any that have happened, that have worked quite well and that should be replicated and on any difficulties or challenges that they may have noticed with them?