Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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40. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the proposals there are to intensify co-operation in the further education sector on a cross-Border and all-Ireland basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49875/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There are already examples of further education colleges collaborating with the regional colleges in Northern Ireland, with one of the most notable being those colleges in Donegal ETB and the North West Regional College as part of the North West Strategic Growth Partnership.

I attach great importance to collaborations of this nature are important, not least that they recognise the context of labour mobility and skills needs along the border region.

Further opportunities for collaboration will also emerge as part of the forthcoming PEACE PLUS programme, where €50 million has been provisionally allocated to the provision of skills on a cross-border basis. Officials in my Department are working closely with their counterparts in Northern Ireland to identify and agree actions to deliver on this objective.