Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD is Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for Higher Education. Minister Mitchell O’Connor previously served as Minister of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, leading on the creation of sustainable full employment across all regions of the country, seeing, for the first time in almost a decade, over 2 million people employed in Ireland. In 2018, the Minister led the Technological Universities Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas. She pioneered the development of the first Technological University in Ireland: Technological University Dublin. Which was officially established on 1 January 2019 and is now the largest University in Ireland. Currently the Minister is progressing the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018. This Bill will provide for important legislative reforms that will strengthen Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) as a regulator, and enable it to maintain and enhance the quality of educational provision across Ireland’s further and higher education system. The Minister is dedicated to supporting the Irish education system in becoming more internationalised, by encouraging and assisting with the development of further links and relationships between Ireland and many partners at individual, institutional and country level. Minister Mitchell O’Connor is committed to leading the development of national policy on equity of access to higher education for all students; overseeing a range of support measures, which facilitate greater levels of participation by disadvantaged students, mature students and students with disabilities.