The report of the review group on further education made a total of 48 recommendations about future arrangements for the planning and funding of further education in Northern Ireland, a number of which called for additional resources to be made available. In my response to the report, I indicated that I could maintain spending at its current level, which in recent years has received increased funding, but that there were many competing claims for additional expenditure. However, I gave an assurance at the time that obtaining even more resources for further education would remain one of my top priorities.