Ms Helen McMahon:

We are actually working on this area. We recently ran an event with the Irish Universities Association for more effective SME engagement with the university system. It is something we would also like to look at with the ITs. It is about the SMEs being much more proactive, as proactive as the multinationals are in terms of how they position themselves or sell themselves to graduates, and also getting much more involved in co-creation of programmes. We are also linking in terms of doing internships and bringing more internships into companies so that there is a proper structure in place, and that SMEs become more aware of what the benefits of research are for them in terms of solving business needs and creating more opportunities in terms of entry-level research.

It is as Dr. Soden and Ms McGee were saying. It goes back to integrated pathways and that unified tertiary education system, and bringing in talent and skills from a variety of different sources and that they have a pathway of progression through the system and they are supported through that and engage then with enterprise in that capacity.