Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Campuses are not defined in the Bill. However, they are dealt with in the strategic plan in section 30 of the Bill. To clarify, ITs can at any stage be stand-alone or apply to join a TU. For the record, in case anyone thinks otherwise, I have the highest regard for Athlone IT. I have visited it not only as the Minister of State with responsibility for higher education, but also in my last role. In any of the messages I got from industries and businesses that opened in and around Athlone, Roscommon or Mullingar in particular, I heard the highest of praise for Athlone Institute of Technology, so I am a huge fan of AIT. I did not put the critical mass numbers on the record. TU4Dublin will be 27,880 students; Munster TU, approximately 13,495: the Connacht-Ulster technological university alliance, 15,910; and TU south east, 14,612. We believe having a critical mass is really important. According to the figures for Athlone IT that I have before me, there was a student cohort of 4,890 in 2015-16, while Dundalk's was 4,999. Our plan is to put the colleges and ITs together and create a critical mass and a choice for students in order that they can go from level 6 right up to doctorate level if they so wish. As I said, at any stage single ITs can apply for technological university recognition, but they must be a consortium.