Debate contribution: Reducing Barriers to All-Ireland Student Mobility

Debate contribution by Mr Pádraig Delargy on 28 April 2025.

MLA

Mr Pádraig Delargy

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

28 April 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Reducing Barriers to All-Ireland Student Mobility

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4914053

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

A chairde

, we ask the House to support a simple but powerful idea: no young person on this island should be held back from accessing education by an artificial barrier, be it financial, bureaucratic or political. Education should open doors; it should not be a postcode lottery. We live on one island. Our communities are connected, and our students are ambitious; yet, for too long, the systems and structures that we have inherited continue to divide and disadvantage our students. It is time that we faced that head-on. This is the reality: if you are a student in Donegal and want to study in Derry, given the great chances already at the Magee campus and the plans for more to come, you are more likely to face barriers than if you were to apply to study in Galway or Cork. That is not just wrong; it is absurd. The barriers come in many forms: a lack of joined-up information on courses across Ireland; differences in fee structures and funding supports; complexities in the recognition of qualifications; and — let us be honest — decades of underinvestment in and political indifference towards the potential of all-island cooperation and collaboration in education. Here is the good news: we can change that. The motion calls for a coordinated effort on an all-island basis to harmonise student support; ensure fair access to funding, regardless of which part of the island a student is from; strengthen cross-border pathways in further and higher education; recognise the need for alignment in the Central Applications Office (CAO) and UCAS results dates to ensure that students can choose which option is best for them; and create greater harmony between the two systems. Crucially, we want to create a shared strategy to make all-Ireland student mobility a reality, not just a talking point. With my colleagues in the Dáil, Mairéad Farrell and Donna McGettigan, I have met dozens of students to discuss the issue, and one common theme prevailed: they want greater choice. While I welcome the progress in the South to reduce the requirement from four A levels to three A levels plus an AS level, that is still restrictive. We have further to go to create real parity across Ireland. I acknowledge the amendment's intent to increase that parity. We have seen great progress on the issue, but, of course, there is further to go. I recognise and welcome the amendment's intent and am happy to support it. From our discussions, we know that many students are not aware that the CAO system is different, nor are they informed and supported by many schools around that. That is why we make our call primarily to the Department of Education. Let us work together to put as many options and opportunities on the table as possible. Across Ireland, we face many of the same skills gaps, such as those in green and renewable energy technologies, cybersecurity, digital transformation, allied health professions, construction and advanced manufacturing. As members of the Economy Committee, we know those skills gaps, and they are clearly identified in both the skills barometer in the North and the 'National Skills Bulletin' in the South. We are planning for two economies on one island: that is inefficient. It does not make sense. A unified approach to skills planning would mean shared forecasts for our future industry needs and an ability to respond faster to cross-border economic demands regarding, for example, data centres, offshore wind, and biopharmacy. Student mobility is the same as skills mobility. Enabling more North-to-South and South-to-North student movement is a low-cost, high-impact way to address the urgent workforce shortages and boost economic growth in our border regions. This is about choice and opportunity. It does not impose or compel. It creates additional opportunities for our students and would augment the already fantastic further and higher education systems that we have. Students would have all the data, all the careers support, all the joined-up thinking and all the opportunities to make informed choices. That opportunity needs to be clear in our colleges and schools. It is vital that we all push in the same direction. I am disappointed that neither the Education Minister nor his colleagues who sit on the Economy Committee are here. I ask him to communicate the changes and opportunities to all schools to ensure that the Careers Service works effectively in providing the information to students and encouraging students to look at all the opportunities that are open to them. Similarly, the Department for the Economy should communicate that information to colleges. I acknowledge the ongoing work of Minister Archibald to engage with her counterparts in the South to discuss and promote all-Ireland student mobility. Let us build an Ireland of equals, one that is not divided by invisible lines but is united by a common purpose of learning, growing and thriving together. I urge Members to support the motion. Let us tear down barriers and open a future that works for all our students.

846 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:28 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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