Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will move on to proper governance, oversight and procedure of third level institutes. I am particularly speaking about Waterford because I am from the south east. We hear rumours on the grapevine about Waterford and the financial situation there. We hear that moneys are going into servicing loans instead of being invested in the students, teachers and the facility in general. There is a need for oversight and proper governance in Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT. I will speak later on about it amalgamating with the Institute of Technology Carlow to attain university status.

I do not know what are the deficits in WIT or the other institutes that have been mentioned, but I would like to know, if the procedure is in place, why and how were these deficits allowed to get so high, or get so out of control, that they are now affecting the day to day operation of the colleges? Are the proper procedures there? Is the proper governance there? Is the HEA strong enough in its oversight to make sure that individual colleges are not allowed to go awry?