Mr. Ian McKenna:

I am conscious of not straying into the area of developing policy, or anything of that nature, at this point. There is an openness about looking at options such as those mentioned by the Deputy. There are pluses and minuses to it. In some respects, it would formalise much of the collaboration already taking place. It is putting a formal structure in place such as already exists within the education sector. There is an education sectoral ministerial council, contingent on which is Ministers meeting twice every year on a cross-Border basis. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has already reached out to his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy, Conor Murphy, and had a conversation. It is something where there is a willingness on both sides to look at how we can progress the collaboration. Whether it comes through the North-South Ministerial Council or is allowed to grow as it has done thus far remains to be seen. Putting it in a formal structure is replicating much of the positive work that has already happened on a bilateral basis. For Ms Fitzgerald and me, reaching out to colleagues in the Department for the Economy is second nature at this stage. There is very strong collaboration in-----