Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the provisions in the Bill. My colleague, Deputy Terence Flanagan, listed the range of organisations to be amalgamated, from the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, the Further Education and Training Awards Council and the Higher Education Training Awards Council. Apart from streamlining, it also makes sense.

I also acknowledge the role of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, in seeking potential synergies on a cross-Border basis. While there are provisions in the Bill to examine international education codes of practice within the parameters of the National Framework of Qualifications, we should also monitor what is happening on a cross-Border basis. In 1998, we signed up to the Good Friday Agreement, according to which we must look at linkages and synergy in education on a North-South basis. It is important to keep an eye on what is happening on the ground. I welcome the Minister's proactive stance on this point.

I suggest the Minister examines what is happening on the ground. On the same basis that a team may look good on paper to football managers, politicians may think cross-Border ideas look good on paper. However, it is better to engage with people on the ground who know best practice better than politicians. One example is the North West Education Action Group, based in County Fermanagh. It is considering links on a North-South basis at second level. I spoke to a number of representatives, who are looking back to the practices of 60 and 65 years ago, when many from Belleek, County Fermanagh studied in schools in Ballyshannon. We must explore the vision and potential that people see on the ground in Border constituencies. Things will change, particularly given the fact of a Government led by Sinn Féin and the DUP. The Sinn Féin Minister is in the business of closing down schools, particularly rural primary schools, in Keady and Aghavilly, County Armagh, both of which closed in January. The minimum threshold at secondary school level is 500 pupils.

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