Dr. Oliver Murphy:

On a separate point, the Chairman mentioned she was at the Leaders in Higher Education address by Mr. Tom Boland at the Royal Irish Academy last night. One of the really stark statistics he mentioned and that I took from the meeting was that in 2005 the real expenditure per student at second level was 73% of the expenditure per student at third level. In 2015, it reversed. The expenditure per student at second level now exceeds the expenditure per student at third level. Really, it is unsustainable.

Reference was made to the point I would like to make. With regard to the financial review of the institutes of technology report issued by the HEA, we have run out of road at this stage. I urge the committee to deal with the issue as expeditiously as possible. Whatever decision is taken, it should not have an impact on access. Definitely, as a sector, we have experienced disproportionate cuts, even compared to the university sector. It is now time to address this. I am conscious of the demands on the public purse but even if a structural plan were put in place over a number of years, with multi-annual funding, one would know that the sector would come back into a more financially stable position over a number of years. At least, that would use the right mood music.