Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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620. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his engagements with the Northern Executive in relation to cross-Border third-level opportunities in the context of the Shared Island Fund. [11806/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am committed to engaging in a collaborative relationship with the Northern Ireland Executive on areas of mutual interest and my Department is working closely with the Shared Island Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach on this work.

I have met with Minister Dodds, and we discussed a number of areas of interest for cross-border collaboration between our two Departments. Senior officials from the two Departments have also engaged in constructive discussions. My Department is also represented on the North-South Senior Officials Group on North-South Infrastructure and Investment which involves a range of Government Departments and and officials from the Northern Ireland Executive and which is taking forward work on north-south research and education issues.

I hope to meet again with Minister Dodds in the near future to continue our discussions on co-operation.