Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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133. To ask the Taoiseach if the research to be conducted by the shared island unit on the research programme entitled The Economic and Social Opportunities from Increased Cooperation on the Shared Island will include the increased cooperation in third-level education. [22004/21]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As part of the Shared Island initiative, the Shared Island unit in my Department is progressing a comprehensive research programme, working with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) and the Irish Research Council (IRC).

Strengthening social, economic and political links on the island and the promotion of all-island approaches to the strategic challenges facing Ireland, North and South are key objectives, and North/South and East/West collaboration is a feature of the research work.

The research programme with the ESRI is on ‘the Economic and Social Opportunities from Increased Cooperation on the Shared Island’. Research outputs will be published in 2021 and subsequent years.

2021 work under the programme is focusing on aspects of health, education, enterprise and the all-island economy. 2021 work on education will consider policy learnings from an examination of key aspects of education and training systems, including at third-level, north and south.

Scoping papers including terms of reference for each of the ESRI research topics for 2021 will be published in the coming weeks and made available at gov.ie/sharedisland/research.

More broadly, the Government is committed to working to enhance all aspects of North-South cooperation on the island, including in third-level education, and to supporting a North/South programme of research and innovation, including an all-island research hub.