Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 569: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will report on the work of the North-South unit in her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34218/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is involved in North-South work at primary, post-primary and third level across a very wide area of activity including school exchange, joint school projects, Irish language, youth exchange and information technology. There is a wide-ranging collaboration at departmental, education professional, institutional, local education and organisational level both prior to the Good Friday Agreement and since. The number of projects linking teachers, schools and youth in co-operative projects in education continues to increase.

My Department has identified key priority areas of North-South educational co-operation including the following. An all-island body, Universities Ireland, has been established to promote co-operation and collaboration between the nine universities in the island of Ireland and to enhance their reputations in Europe and overseas. Its objective is to identify the challenges facing the university sector on the island and to explore the potential for collaboration; North-South Exchange. The North-South Exchange Consortium commissioned research into the extent of collaboration in education between the North and South. The research will be published at the end of November and will inform the Departments on future decisions in this area. In the case of the middletown Centre for Excellence, the Departments of Education, North and South, are currently working through the various organisational and operational issues and an a North-South endorsement panel has been established with the purpose of developing a comprehensive framework for accreditation and certification in youth work.

In addition, initiatives to promote and enhance consultation and co-operation in education on a North-South basis within the broader context of relationships with Britain, Europe and the USA have been established.

I have met with Angela Smith, MP, Minister with responsibility for education in Northern Ireland, on two occasions this year to discuss ongoing education co-operation and my Department's Secretary General has also met with the Permanent Secretaries of the Department of Education and the Department of Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland.