Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is hard to pose a question because I agree with practically everything that Mr. Murray has said. I am disappointed there might have been some place in the world where the universities are so competitive that they are pestering the city university. I have seen them operate in China when all the colleges and DIT were at an event in Beijing. They are doing reasonably well in China. Two scholarships are being offered in Vietnam to a man and a woman to come to Ireland to study catering and the hospitality industry and build tourism. Mr. Murray must be aware of the excellent report in yesterday's edition of The Irish Times which highlights the work being done, particularly by DIT. It was not an advertisement but a business feature. The Minister for Education and Skills will do a tour of China. It would be nice to think he might go to Hainan and get the local authority there to decide on which of the two sites on offer the campus will be developed.

How does Mr. Murray envisage the financial package available from the Chinese in conjunction with DIT working out in the long term? DIT might grant the certificates and oversee the courses. What is Mr. Murray's opinion of that type of relationship? Maybe it is mimicking the type of relationship that the College of Surgeons has with Bahrain. Would Mr. Murray see that as a way forward, educational partnerships engaging with the governments or local authorities and private capital, or does he think it is better to try to suck as many international students as possible into Ireland and the college structure that exists here?