Dr. Joseph Ryan:

I again thank the committee for this engagement. I very much appreciate it. There is a lot for us to think about as well. Mr. Miley and I will be on something tomorrow and will be talking about the expert group report coming back. That is another issue - encouraging the Minister to publish the report as soon as possible so it informs the next phase because that is the critical discussion for higher education over the next while. I have no doubt the committee will deal with that and, hopefully, we will get a chance to speak to members again on that occasion.

The issue of contractually requiring students to remain here after their studies is worth considering. Let us consider whether it is feasible. Certainly there are areas in society like the Defence Forces and higher education whereby people are supported to study but, equally, they commit to stay for a period of time on a retracting scale. That seems to be a contract worth discussing.

Regarding the issue raised by Deputy Conway-Walsh, again, my heart goes out to the individual in question. I do not know the case but one might have seen an individual who wanted to do medicine originally, may not have succeeded in entry because of what we just discussed and went that related route. The biomedical course is a superb course and we have seen the impact of it - never more so than in the past couple of years. There is something about perceptions around different roles. In respect of the HPAT route, there is a question about trying to get a broader input into medicine so medicine is possibly more reflective of the society. That was seen to be important. There is a conversation there. I do not know whether the committee is going to meet with the professional bodies because they would have a significant input into this sort of consideration. It might be worth considering.

If we go back to the question about looking at this from a student's perspective, while we must think of our economy and, of course, we are investing public money in this to develop our people, if we are developing our citizens to be the best they can be and if we are realising the potential of our citizens, we are doing a good thing, which itself would be best for the country and our system.