Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Chair for allowing me in because I am not a permanent member of the committee but I have a really strong interest in this subject since my time on the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I want to make a couple of points about this. First, on accreditation standards across the island, can we have assurance that any consideration that is given will have the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons accreditation as well as the Veterinary Council of Ireland?

Second, I will not talk about a specific higher education institute but it is very important that whichever one is selected has the capacity to deliver the world-class excellence we need. We have a wonderful opportunity here to do that and that must be first and foremost in terms of being able to attract the very best teachers from around the world. We need to bear that mind while we are doing it. I am thinking of North-South accreditation and being able to attract the quality teaching staff.