Mr. Paul Hannigan:

There is a degree of overlap with the questions raised and I will attempt to deal with them on that basis. I am originally from Ballyshannon in County Donegal, which is a Border town. For ten years I worked with Mr. Cummins in Dundalk Institute of Technology before returning to Letterkenny Institute of Technology, where I have been for the last 15 years. I have spent my entire life around the Border and I am well aware of the issues that have to be considered.

In the context of the overall situation, cross-Border collaboration has undoubtedly gone down the political agenda. Deputy Smith made reference to the attitudes of people who do not live in Border areas and noted that they do not regard cross-Border educational initiatives as being relevant to them. We have to fight that battle initially within our own constituencies to persuade people that such initiatives are vital for Border colleges. We work alongside people from both sides of the Border but few students from Northern Ireland study in our institutions.

Deputy Feighan suggested that we were lazy in the context of implementing the agreement and that we should be doing more to develop relationships with Northern Ireland. However, each of the three institutions have invested considerable amounts of money, effort and time on changing perceptions in Northern Ireland. It is difficult to identify the obstacles to mobility on both sides of the Border. The central issue is, as Andy Pollack has noted, the complete confusion that exists about what is on offer in our respective institutes. We put obstacles in front of people without meaning to do so. This issue arose in the earlier discussion about entry levels and confusion about A levels. We recently dealt with the question of how we should set entry level requirements for students with applied A levels. There is a problem of misinformation but the wider context is that people regard it as solely a matter for Border counties. I am glad to hear the commitments expressed by members regarding political support for our recommendations. The proposal to make a presentation to both education committees offers one way of progressing the matter.

To put the issues facing Letterkenny Institute of Technology in a context with which Deputy Ferris will be familiar, they are the equivalent of the Institute of Technology Tralee not taking students from any other part of Munster. A large hinterland would be removed in terms of student participation, with knock-on effects on how the institute operates and serves the region. We should not lose sight of the spatial strategy in this debate. Letterkenny is a joint gateway with Derry city. We need to continue reminding people of the importance of cross-Border co-operation and its impact on the day-to-day operation of the institutions.