Ms ?mer Deane:

The issue of under-represented groups goes right back to the early days of the shared island unit. NESC undertook some research on behalf of the unit, which pointed to the fact that the unit needed to get out there and connect with the wider public to identify our next range of priorities. We have gone to civic society itself. In fact, the civic fund was set up as a response to that. The civic fund is administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Tánaiste. It gives funding to civic society groups to establish new North-South connections. We have relied on such groups to a great extent, whether it is the National Women's Council, the Wheel or the youth forum, where we work with the National Youth Council of Ireland, to help us identify groups or communities, which we do not necessarily have direct knowledge of. That has worked very well. There is a lot of experience and expertise in civic society, especially in those umbrella groups. We work very closely with them.

Education is a recognised aspect of North-South co-operation. We are hopeful that when the North-South Ministerial Council plenary meets, that will be followed up at a sectoral level, whereby Ministers will meet their counterparts in Northern Ireland on a regular basis. We expect those meetings to start in the coming weeks. That is probably the best place to have that strategic discussion about North-South co-operation in the space of education.

The female entrepreneurship scheme is at a very early stage. There have been some interesting ideas, all of which we will bring back. It is a programme that will be developed by the enterprise agencies working to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, in this jurisdiction and the Minister for the Economy, Conor Murphy, in Belfast. It is at a very early stage. It will need to reflect the priorities of both Departments and the agencies. We have heard a few ideas today we will go back to them with as they continue to design the scheme over the coming weeks.