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

The universities do compete. I have seen them do so in Beijing. Institute of Technology Tallaght was ignored, although the delegation is correct that the universities brought their former students together. The argument being made is that there should be a corporate image of educational benefits for third level students coming to Ireland rather than have each university marketing itself to try to get students to come to its campus.

This point was made by the lads last week and is something I have seen myself. As such, I am surprised the IDA thinks there is corporate marketing of Ireland as a base. Regarding the Chinese and Asian markets, we have the family orientation here. They have the one-child family system there and are very protective of their one child. We have this warmth, which is great for marketing. The allegation has been made that institutions are competing when they go out as opposed to representing the totality of Ireland as an educational destination for children.