Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wholeheartedly agree with everything the Deputy has said. This market will certainly be a major focus of my Department and the Government over the coming years.

We are beginning to see interesting developments, particularly in the relationship that exists between Ireland and Asia. A number of our universities have formed strong linkages or partnerships with institutes, in particular, in China and Malaysia, and we want to growth those partnerships and linkages over the coming years.

Rather than a fragmented university-by-university approach, we want to see a collaborative approach across all of third level provision in attracting students into Ireland. The new Education Ireland brand, which has been developed by Enterprise Ireland, is proving effective in that regard.

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