Mr. Tom Grady:

The structure in Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim is such that we have a county-oriented College of the Future and our management structure is focused on making sure that our training centre apprenticeship programme is integrated into our overall further education and training structure. As I mentioned earlier, we are involved in the development of some new apprenticeships in Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim, like many other ETBs. We have some existing ones that we are also collaborating with providers on. There are apprenticeships that are co-ordinated by other entities or other ETBs or institutions and we are a collaborating delivery body. For example, we are running the accounting technician apprenticeship through Mayo College of Further Education and Training. Regarding the national sales apprenticeship and the digital marketing apprenticeship, the latter has about a dozen public service apprentices on it, with a link person in the Department of further and higher education working on it. There are about six Departments involved in that apprenticeship. We are developing an immersive technology-based apprenticeship through Sligo College of Further Education and Training and a business operations apprenticeship through Leitrim College of Further Education and Training. These are just a few examples. My sense is that they are indicative of what is happening generally in the sector but I cannot speak for the whole sector in the way that Dr. Trant or Mr. Brownlee can.

On the Northern Ireland question, likewise, we have close connections with South West College. Our colleagues in Donegal also have close connections and I think the same is true in Cavan and Monaghan. They have close links and alliances with colleges in the North.