Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister. I had the opportunity to hear him speak at Queen's University Belfast a number of weeks ago. I welcome his positive attitude in dealing with my former colleagues in the Department for the Economy and the current Minister, Caoimhe Archibald. I welcome the motion put before us today. One area it mentions is greater collaboration between North and South. The Minister will understand the importance of that. When I was a younger person, which is a long time ago, it was much easier. There was much more interchange of students going North to South and South to North. Certainly, the number of people from the North who went to colleges in Dublin was a significant percentage of the population. That number has reduced over, maybe, the past two generations. Not having that exchange and ability is to the detriment of all students and to the island generally. A lot of that is down to bureaucratic changes that have created more barriers, of which I am sure the Minister is aware. This will require, as the Minister has already committed to, both Departments, North and South, working together, the universities and colleges working together and the admissions bodies working together to try to reduce some of those barriers.

The review of A-level grade equivalencies undertaken by the Government has been welcome. Universities are beginning to apply that in the next academic year, which will lead to significant opportunity. Previously, those grades were not assessed in the same way, which led to differentials in the points awarded and the ability to access courses. This review places students throughout the island on a more equal footing. That is a benefit to all academic institutions across the island, both North and South.

There has been some progress on financial supports. Postgraduate students from the North studying in the South have been able to access the tuition fee loan, which improves their opportunities to access all of the universities and colleges on the island. There is work ongoing with the Students Loan Company in the North to make a similar loan available to students from the North studying part time undergraduate courses in the South. That will alleviate some of the financial barriers which undoubtedly exist, and which others have mentioned, in the context of student hardship, the ability to access and stay in courses and to survive with the cost-of-living crisis that continues to bedevil us.

With regard to access to doctoral study in the North, following recent changes to the postgraduate award scheme, PhD students from the South of Ireland will be eligible to receive a full stipend as well as the payment of tuition fees under the scheme. Previously, they were eligible for fee support only. That has been important. There has been significant progress in this regard. I hope we will see the numbers and the benefit from that in the next academic year and in the years to follow.

Of course, engagement between CAO and UCAS will be critical in maintaining that momentum and in opening further discussions on admissions dates and clearing processes in order that students of all ages are provided with clear guidance and support at the earliest possible opportunity to enable them to make informed choices about the administration and admission processes.

I am sure the Minister is aware, from conversations with colleagues on the other side of the Border, of the financial constraints under which the Department for the Economy is operating and the limitations on providing student places on what is known as the maximum aggregate student number, MASN, cap. This cap relates to the number of students who can be admitted to universities without hiking tuition fees. There is a role for discussion between the Minister's own Department and the universities about the category into which students coming from the South fall. At the moment, they are competing with students from the North for places within the MASN cap system. There is an opportunity to look at placing them outside of that. That would create more revenue for universities in the North, given the financial constraints under which they operate, and create more opportunities for students from the South to go forward.

I very much welcome the continued commitment to Magee campus and its expansion in Derry. I attended the first intake of the medical school. There were a number of students from the South on that postgraduate medical course, who, in turn, will return back to the health service in the South to practise when qualified. The benefits for the island are enormous. I look forward to continued engagement in this regard. There has been a lot of positive work done by both Departments, North and South, and I welcome the Minister's commitment to continue in that vein. More work needs to be done and I look forward to engaging with the Minister to ensure we can progress that as smoothly as possible.