Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for their contributions and for giving their time to this crucially important report. We recognise that there is universal support for this approach. The HEA Bill and North-South student mobility requires us all to go further.

What are the next steps that should be taken by the HEA and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to increase the number of cross-Border enrolments?

While colleges should be financially capable of conducting their own research, is there also a benefit to the HEA, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department for the Economy in the North to centrally co-ordinate the outreach and to explain the different system in the South of the CAO and SUSI?

How great an impact do the time imbalances have? I suggest that the committee should write to the State Examinations Commission and to the Minister to highlight the issue that exists. How many fewer applications do the HEAs in the South receive as a result? We will have some indication on that from the figures in the past two years.

The CAO is a not-for-profit company established by the higher education institutions, HEIs, in the South. Could the IUA or the members of the HEIs make the necessary changes or request a review of the current practices? How would such a review and reform be initiated? Could a solution specific to the North be considered, based on promoting integration on the island, even if the wider approach of A-levels is seen as operating fairly in regard to Britain?

Has the UI received a response to its very good proposal to the Minister and to the permanent secretary at the Department for the Economy? If so, would Professor Ó hÓgartaigh be able to share the response with the committee?

I commend the work that has been done by the north-west tertiary education cluster. I watch it to see how it is evolving. I know some information has been outlined, but what is specifically needed, even in the short term, to ensure that it continues to grow? Could the witnesses provide more detail on the mutual recognition awards, in particular below degree level?