Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the witnesses. I thank them for the great work they and the trade unions have done over many decades in bringing together workers North and South and pursuing workers' rights. They are right. Like us all, we were very concerned about Brexit. I remember being over in the UK with Deputy Brendan Smith, and any time politicians asked us what we thought of Brexit, we would always tell them, as diplomatically as we could, that we looked at it as the British shooting themselves in our foot. Unfortunately, it happened and we are where we are but much great work has been done. The witnesses are correct that Brexit has affected workers' rights and employment law. We must work together. The trade unions are unique in the work they do. I thank them for all the great work they have done. One thing we see is that Brexit has caused division and probably reinforced partition. Again, we must now work that bit harder in this regard.

I thank Mr. Boyle for the work he has done. I have met members of his trade union. It is lobbying for many worthwhile initiatives in the budget.

As with the Irish Farmers' Association, the INTO is a very strong and positive lobbying group. It is always nice to meet like-minded people. As a Government Deputy, we will do what we can.

Significant challenges are posed to the union members across the island. There is support for this committee in protecting and advancing the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, which are very worthwhile.

Mr. Boyle referred to the launch of a report on third level student mobility in Ireland and Northern Ireland and another report that was launched about education and Border communities, North and South. Yesterday, I was at another event on policy on higher education mobility in the British Embassy. It was interesting to see that the facilities in UK universities are a big draw for Irish students, in particular those studying more hands-on courses such as medicine and engineering. Northern Ireland is seen as being closer to home so there is a divergence there.

One aspect that was mentioned yesterday was career guidance. I know career guidance in the South is not Mr. Boyle's area, but career guidance in secondary schools does not seem to fully realise the potential of Ireland and the UK. It was mentioned that in nationalist or Catholic schools in the North career guidance provides much more information on open courses in the South than unionist or grammar schools do. That is something we probably need to highlight.

We should remember that a lot of this is happening because of the common travel area, which is 100 years old. It was an understanding based on our common history but it was also included in various legislation, which makes it a lot easier for us all to do that kind of work between the two islands. The common travel area allows us to live, work, travel and study within the area.

I visited many schools when I was Chair of this committee and also as a member. We visited integrated schools, coeducational schools and schools in nationalist and unionist areas. I want to get the right word. We have always talked about attainment and the fact that there were more challenges in the unionist community. I recently visited the Belfast Boys' Model School in Ballysillan, which is a unionist area. The school is really boxing above its weight. I thank the principal, Mary Montgomery, for the great work that is being done. It was nice to see the school given that we have been talking here about that major issue. Perhaps we could invite representatives of a coeducational school, a school from a nationalist area and one from a unionist area to outline the challenges they face in their areas. I am sure the witnesses would be very supportive of that. I do not want to repeat what others have already raised. I thank the witnesses for their great work and great support.