Mr. Denis Cummins:

The single biggest obstacle we face is misperception. Focus groups we have worked with in Northern Ireland simply did not realise the opportunities available in our institutes of technology. We are confused with further education in Northern Ireland and students are often unaware that we offer degree and post-graduate courses. Clearly our institutions can do more to address that misperception but political support would help in this regard.

The second biggest obstacle is the way in which the CAO system unfairly disadvantages students from Northern Ireland. The best performing student from Northern Ireland would be capped at 450 points, whereas the best performing student in the Republic of Ireland is capped at 600 points. We have examples of students who are refused admission to DKIT but get places in Queens University Belfast. Something is not right in the way the system is working. Our three institutions are committed to developing direct entry procedures on the basis of a fair apportionment of points.