Professor John O'Brennan:

By contact between the different academic units in the university; from first year on we would be looking to identify people to fast track.

We could do other things together. I propose we bring four, five or six of the graduates from each university together in Dublin for a few days a year to introduce them to some of the best expertise available on the European Union. We could introduce them to this committee and to some of the officials who work closely with Europe. Later in my opening statement, the committee will see that I think we should be doing more. We should not only be identifying students but bringing them to Brussels on a regular basis and not only university students, there is also a place in this for secondary schools. For example, I saw that the post-primary school I attended in Maynooth brought its transition year class to Brussels for a week. It is our experience that nothing turns students onto the idea of Europe more than being present in Brussels and meeting our MEPs. We have had the privilege of meeting Deputy Harkin and her colleagues on many occasions over the years. All the feedback we get from students is that they can begin to picture themselves working in the European Parliament, for the Commission or in those spaces. It ceases being an abstract thing and becomes something real.