Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming here this morning. There are six ITs in particular financial difficulty. Mr. Ó Catháin spoke on local radio during the week to say that his IT has to raise 40% of its funding. That is shocking. How can we move this forward? What are the options for the ITs to address the crisis?

The proposal to abolish the student contribution charge for students doing level 6 and 7 qualifications is particularly interesting as there are many disadvantaged students within that cohort. Would such a proposal contribute to greater retention rates in the ITs? Does this proposal have any other benefits? Courses such as science, computing and engineering are generally more costly because of the intensity of the laboratory work and the facilities and staff required. Would the witnesses consider it fair to effectively ask students in other courses, who may be in similar financial circumstances, to contribute to their education while others do not? The ITs have also been quite successful in securing research funding which is positive. Is there any scope to increase this? What measures would need to be taken in order to develop this?