Meeting Details

This meeting will be webcast for live and subsequent broadcast on the Council's You Tube site Live Broadcast Link

Members should declare any financial and non-financial interests they have in the items of business for consideration, identifying the relevant agenda item and the nature of their interest.

That this Council notes the positive work between universities and government departments on the island of Ireland to facilitate closer equivalence in A-Level and Leaving Certificate grades and the positive potential this has for increasing student mobility; recognises that barriers to student mobility across the island remain and should be overcome; further notes the social, academic and economic impact of limiting student mobility; and calls on this Council to write to the Irish Government to encourage them to engage in dialogue with the Minister for the Economy and Minister of Education to align CAO results and university admissions dates with the UCAS system to create a more streamlined university application process; and further calls on this Council to write to the Minister of Education to ask that more efforts are made to ensure that A-level students are fully aware of the university course options that exist island wide and that these are adequately promoted in our schools, to support students in completing their CAO forms.

"That this Council expresses concern at the additional costs to be added to all non-EU parcels arriving in NI that has been announced by the EU as being applicable from 1 July 2026: namely a €3 customs levy on all small parcel imports valued under €150, alongside an additional €2 handling fee to fund the new EU Customs Authority. This will add costs to both businesses and to consumers. We propose that  this Council write to HM Government to seek clarity as to whether these rules will apply under the Protocol and the Windsor Framework; whether the millions of parcels from the rest of the UK will be routed via ‘green’ or ‘red’ lanes; and clarify what additional costs and delays we might expect regarding parcels received from the rest of the UK or elsewhere."