Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have raised with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the need to intensify co-operation and collaboration on an all-Ireland basis in the whole area of further education. In fairness, the Minister, Deputy Harris, has indicated strongly his interest in this specific area. In the context of the establishment of the new Department and the shared island initiative, further education could be a real beneficiary and its further development would be of major benefit to students for generations to come on a cross-Border and all-Ireland basis. At present, there is cross-Border co-operation on an ad hocbasis. As we move forward, we should have structured co-operation on an all-Ireland basis. Cavan Institute, the first board of management of which I had the privilege of chairing, became the first dedicated post-leaving certificate college in 1999. It is the leading further education provider in the southern Border region. Specific arrangements should be put in place to intensify and lead co-operation on an all-Ireland, cross-Border basis by having specific sister college arrangements with similar institutes in Northern Ireland.

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