Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Are the institutions being left to their own devices as to whether to decide to go into consortia or is there any incentive or encouragement from the Government or the HEA as to where to go or whom to go with?

My colleague, Deputy Troy, will raise the programme for Government commitment. We are deleting from this Bill, probably correctly, the specific provisions about Cork and Tralee, and Dublin and Blanchardstown and Tallaght. That would have given legislative guidance as to what was to happen whereas now we are leaving the institutions to their own devices. My question is similar to Deputy Burton's. What knowledge has the Minister of State of where everything is going and what the regions can expect from this?

The high-profile institutes are Dublin and Cork-Tralee. Even there, people are asking questions about it. There are a lot of questions about Waterford and Carlow, and doubts have been raised. There are a lot of questions about the western alliance too. People are interested. People value their local institute of technology and in many cases hope for it to become a technological university. What is the Minister of State saying to those around the country? Is she organising this or is it the colleges being left to do as they themselves see fit?