Minister For Higher Education Simon Harris has said the ASTI's decision to pull out of Leaving Cert talks last night was "beyond unhelpful" but that all stakeholders must now move forward.

The ASTI withdrew from talks over concerns that there wasn't enough work done to assess the students in a calculated grades system.

However, Minister Harris added that he was pleased the ASTI had accepted an invitation to meet with Minister for Education Norma Foley today.

He joined us on The Last Word to discuss this and the announcement of two new upskilling programmes for employees in the hospitality and tourism sector.