Ms Sheena Duffy:

My colleagues and I are pleased to assist the committee in consideration of topics referred to in its letter of 2 February. I will comment on the progress by the HEA to address a number of the recommendations contained in the committee’s report. As stated by my colleague, Dr. Vivienne Patterson, last year, the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 includes an objective on the promotion of co-operation and collaboration with regard to higher education including with regard to the provision of student places and the enrolment of students in Northern Ireland, as well as the promotion of co-operation between designated institutions of higher education and institutions of higher education in Northern Ireland. There is a breadth of activities that underpin our co-operation with Northern Ireland, including our data collection in relation to Northern Ireland student enrolment in higher education in Ireland. The HEA, through its student record system, collects student enrolment and graduate data from its higher education institutions on an annual basis. This data includes their domiciliary of origin and therefore the enrolment data records of students from Northern Ireland enrolled in HEA-designated higher education institutions is captured in the system. In 2022-23 there was a flow of 1,660 Northern Ireland students to Irish higher education institutions. By mode of study, 59% were full-time students and 33% were part-time students, while 8% were remote. The overall numbers enrolled have remained relatively steady over the past five years. The majority of Northern Ireland students studying in Ireland are undergraduate at 76% and are predominantly studying business studies, followed by health and welfare and then arts and humanities. In the academic year 2022-23, 79% of Northern Ireland new entrants entering Irish higher education institutions enrolled in Dundalk IT, University of Galway, Trinity College and UCD. If Atlantic Technological University is included, the figure is 87%.

The HEA manages a number of funding initiatives for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. These initiatives either partly or fully promote cross-Border activity in tertiary education and research with an aim of increasing student enrolments and industry collaboration. Supported by funding provided of €250,000 by the HEA in 2018, the cross-border FEHE partnership was established involving Ulster University, Letterkenny ATU, North West Regional College and Donegal Education and Training Board. This funding contributed to the development of a co-ordinated academic plan that exploits opportunities for collaboration and study pathways for students in the region and the development of a regional FEHE prospectus. With the assistance of funding provided by the HEA from the TU transformation fund, ATU has supported, among other activities, collaboration with NWRC to deliver a 15-week bridging course in electric vehicle programmes across Donegal ETB, NWRC and ATU Donegal. This involves the sharing of facilities and staff to reskill mechanics for electrical vehicles, developing a pathway from level 6 to level 7 in EV technology. It also supported the development of a proposal to the shared island unit to deliver on a skills escalator and research centre that would support upskilling and reskilling of individuals and support innovative enterprises in the region and the establishment of a cross-border working group.

HEA landscape funding in 2019 provided €500,000 for the smart industry north-west city region. This funding contributed to providing clear, cross-border smart industry learning pathways for student learners from foundation level and the establishment of smart industry research studentships. In addition, HEA performance funding in 2019 awarded to Letterkenny Institute of Technology, now ATU, supported a project aimed to support high value employment opportunities and data science support for industry in the region, particularly in ICT and fintech. Research connections with regional industry and enterprise were developed through this project, which established knowledge transfer connections with the fintech industry in the north-west region by providing data science and research support to enterprises through a cross-Border data science research centre, AI NoW.

Supported by funding provided by the HEA, DkIT is working with FE and industrial partners to identify opportunities and pathways towards achieving sustainable objectives and talent retention, facilitating the growth of industry within the north-east Leinster-south Ulster region by increasing the number of highly qualified graduates who are available to both attract multinational organisations to the region and satisfy the demand of local organisations.

In 2021, the shared island unit allocated €40 million to the North-South research programme, NSRP, over five years, which is being delivered by the HEA on behalf of the Department. Following a very successful first call in 2021, which received 367 eligible applications, 62 projects were funded across three strands to the value of €37.28 million, with project implementation having started in September 2022. Projects are strengthening links between higher education institutions, research communities and researchers across the island of Ireland by delivering all-island approaches to research and innovation through a lens nuanced by the objectives of the Good Friday Agreement, sustainable development goals, the national development plan to 2040, and the strategic development of research and higher education.

Over a period of four years, strand 2 department-to-department projects focusing on the establishment of emerging hubs of excellence will support 35 PhD students, while 18 PhD students will be linked to strand 3 institution-to-institution projects, contributing to building partnerships of scale. Furthermore, smaller strand 1 researcher-to-researcher projects with a maximum two-year duration will include 14 masters students and three PhD students. In addition to the collaboration between higher education institutions, all NSRP projects were encouraged to establish links with relevant third-party collaborators such as NGOs and charities, hospitals, SMEs, State agencies, and other public institutions.

As I am conscious that I have gone over time, in summary I will address two of the other recommendations brought forward by the committee. The committee recommended the provision of sustainable funding levels for higher education. The HEA is working in partnership with the Department. The funding for 2023 and 2024 increases the future allocation funding to €105.2 million. It will hopefully give institutions the bandwidth to engage further in North-South collaboration.

Finally, on the recommendation on additional student accommodation, the HEA is assisting the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in seeking proposals from the sector for a supply of student accommodation. A key objective of these projects will be to provide affordable accommodation.

The HEA’s legislation provides opportunities for further collaboration with the tertiary education sector in Northern Ireland. The HEA looks forward to enhancing our collaboration through a range of initiatives, as discussed.

We look forward to your questions and a discussion on these matters with the committee today.