John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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195. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a strategy for the education sector will be developed in relation to Brexit (details supplied). [5348/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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248. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the preparations his Department is making for Brexit and its impact on the third level sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5874/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 and 248 together.

My Department continues to work on risk assessment and contingency planning for Brexit and is participating in the Inter-Departmental Senior Officials Group that is preparing the response to the outcome of the UK referendum and that serves the Cabinet Committee on Brexit.  My Department actively participates on two of Six Sectoral Brexit Workgroups established to provide key sectoral or thematic advices to the Cabinet Committee and Government. It chairs the Education and Research Subgroup of the Economy and Trade Workgroup, with members representing State bodies concerned with education, jobs, research/innovation, and science.

My Department held an Education sector stakeholder forum on 14 November 2016 to outline plans for the Department’s ongoing engagement with the sector in its preparations for the Brexit negotiation phase. Following this plenary event my Department convened consultation fora for the schools sector, the further education and training sector and the higher education and research sector.  These events facilitated the widest possible involvement of stakeholders across our education system and facilitated my Department in achieving a fuller understanding of their issues and concerns as we continue to plan for the UK’s exit from the EU.

Input from all three education sectors is being analysed and will feed into preparations for the next All-Island Civic Dialogue on 17 February 2017. The Department will continue to develop and refine scenario plans for a range of Brexit scenarios and their impact on the education and research sector. 

Among the key issues identified by the Education and Research Subgroup and raised at the higher education consultation forum were Brexit's likely impact on UK/Ireland research collaboration and partnerships between education institutions and enterprise, as well as the implications for EU funding for research.

Research collaboration between Irish and UK research teams on EU funded projects has been extensive and mutually beneficial. The UK is Ireland’s second largest research partner under Horizon 2020, (after Germany) with 892 collaborative links in successful projects. Under the EU’s Research Framework Programme 7, 72% of the total Irish drawdown was for projects involving a UK partner.

A further meeting of the Education and Research Subgroup of the Economy and Trade Work Group is proposed for February and will principally reflect on the results of stakeholder consultations with a view to informing strategy and responses.

The Government will seek to maintain to the greatest extent possible existing East-West and North-South research collaboration. There may also be new research opportunities for Ireland as a remaining member of the EU and participant in the Horizon 2020 programme to build new collaborations with industry. These opportunities will be maximised. The Government will work constructively to maintain the greatest possible links and co-operation between the EU and the UK in access to EU programmes.

As regards international students, the ongoing consultation process and the planning work by my Department has identified risks and opportunities around this area.  In addition to our ongoing stakeholder consultations on Brexit, the Government's new International Education Strategy, Irish Educated, Globally Connected, 2016-2020 was published last October. The High level group on International education (HLG), which comprises all stakeholders has been tasked with monitoring the overall implementation of the actions in the strategy. The HLG will also review any opportunities or threats that emerge during the Brexit negotiations and propose any actions that need to be taken in response to these threats or opportunities.