Further and Higher Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Minister for his reply. I must say that members of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, across all jurisdictions, were very strong in their praise of the Minister’s contribution at our plenary meeting in Surrey, where he spoke about the opportunities for all-Ireland developments and also east-west developments.
At a recent meeting of the further and higher education committee, we had the leadership of Queen’s University and the leadership of DkIT. They are very anxious to drive this partnership forward in a positive manner. They very much appreciate the leadership the Minister has shown. One of the great messages that came out of that meeting was the willingness of both Queen’s and Dundalk to work with the other education colleges. They already have a partnership with colleges whereby people can commence a course in a college of further education and then complete their degree course in either Dundalk or Queen’s. They are anxious to intensify that collaboration between the higher education institutes and the further education colleges across Cavan and Monaghan, and in our neighbouring counties north of the Border.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02