Initiatives to encourage a common labour market north and south of the Border and greater co-operation in higher and further education are to be developed following a meeting between the Tanaiste and the North's Minister of Higher and Further Education, Mr Sean Farren.

Following yesterday's meeting, both Mr Farren and Ms Harney indicated that they would like to develop a more effective mechanism of marketing job opportunities to attract labour from Northern Ireland to work in the South and vice-versa. This could be done through the use of modern technology such as the Internet.

Discussions between the Training and Employment Agency (T&EA) in Northern Ireland and FAS to work out the details of the plan are expected to begin shortly.

Mr Farren said the plan would not result in a skills drain from Northern Ireland. He said that while many workers had already moved South to address the skills shortage, in the Republic the process worked both ways. "It is not intended to impoverish one over the other but in a sense to make as much benefit to both economies as possible," he said.

Mr Farren said that he would be significantly altering the network of further education colleges in Northern Ireland by shifting the emphasis from offering broad courses in each college towards developing centres of excellence which specialise in high-technology disciplines. He said this would encourage and attract greater funding from private sources in the marketplace. Mr Farren said the Wider Horizons Programme, which provides training opportunities for young people in disadvantaged areas North and South and is jointly administered by FAS and the T&EA is likely to receive further funding from the International Fund for Ireland.

He added that greater co-operation between North and South augured well for the provision of a highly-skilled workforce but would also help to build relationships between people and help establish the whole Belfast Agreement. He said he was pleased with his department's Budget allocation announced yesterday, which showed a £12 million sterling or 2.25 per cent increase.

Ms Harney said she was convinced that the potential for collaboration was greater than ever before.